Book 3: Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles - Void of the Ten Dimensions
by EthanRicksDunn
Summary: The turtles have returned from their epic adventure in space, but their journey is far from over. As Ethan, Jess, and Kaela join them along with their friends April and Casey, they must find Splinter in the void between dimensions. This will only be more difficult with Shredder and Lord Dregg on their tail and Lord Nightshade ready to strike. *COMPLETED*
1. Family Feud - Part 1

Episode 18: Family Feud – Part 1

Blade hissed against blade, metal against metal ringing in the dojo under the sewers under the shade of a tree. Sparks would fly and cascade down on tatami mats as smiles were exchanged between the two competitors. They spun and swung expertly, their minds determined, their eyes unblinking as they stared at one another. Each worked quickly, twisting as expertly as they could, barely faltering, their focus so real that it could be felt in the air as they worked.

Ethan's eyes traced down to Leo's feet. The turtle was balanced well on the tatami, both of his katana's out, one of them poised in attack position, the other ready to fend off another attack. The tactic was strong – Leo was good. Fighting him with one katana, Ethan had no doubt that he could beat him – but with two – that was a bit harder. Feigning to his right, Ethan leaped forward, balancing himself lightly on one of his paws and thrust his naginata forward.

As predicted, Leo swooped the second katana in defense position up and slammed it out of the way. Ethan let the momentum of his opponents blow help charge his bo staff forward to spin around him, his red fur moving in the quick, sudden breeze. His naginata carried around him and struck again. Leo had moved forward to strike at Ethan in a weak moment and didn't see the end of the pole until it was colliding into his brown, dense turtle shell. He fell out of his poised position, but only for a moment. Ethan missed his chance to strike again as Leo moved quickly back into a new position – _kojogiri._ A common Hamato Clan stance.

The handle of Leo's attacking katana made contact with Ethan's forearm and he fell backward and quickly righted himself back into one of his favorites: _Mamushikamae_. "You're good." Leo panted, a grin on his face. He let his position drop which signaled that practice time was over and it was time for a break. Ethan quickly tucked his ears behind his head, lowered his ringed tail and bowed to Leo who bowed back, his blue bandanna catching light from the sewers above as he did so. "I can't tell you how awesome it feels to be practicing again, Ethan." Leo fell to his knees, his brown knee pads sinking to cushion his quick fall to the tatami mats.

Ethan sat down, Indian style and nodded. "I can imagine." he said. "I can't even imagine going into space though – I would be pretty tempted to postpone training for a while if it meant I could zoom around to other planets."

Since returning to the turtles old lair, Ethan, Jess, and Kaela had been extremely entertained to hear where the turtles were this whole time. Traveling to strange, underwater worlds with warrior queens, fighting off the giant, hulking Triceratons in a quest to find the invincible black hole generator that had swallowed the planet. The strange dreams had completely vanished from Ethan's mind. Now, he knew that they were.

When the black hole had first appeared, they had been sucked in – the turtles had failed and the earth was destroyed. But with six months being swung backward by the mysterious robot called the Fugitoid, things had been brought back to normal – only without the turtles and their master. The only residue left from the incident was the strange memories that had existed . . . and yet hadn't. It still made Ethan's head hurt just thinking about it. And of course, among the turtle tales that they got to hear, they also heard about Lord Dregg – the ruler of Planet Sectoid One who, as far as they were concerned was lurking somewhere still in their galaxy. Ethan didn't like the sound of that.

Then of course, Ethan, Jess, and Kaela had some tales of their own to tell. In the dim living room with little light, they told April, Casey, and the turtles all about what had happened in those few months. They spoke about the Technodrome coming back online. They told them about Shredder killing their own Master – Hamato Yuta and father to Hamato Yoshi, and they told them about some the strange incidents they had had with the Shinotomo Clan who the turtles had heard next to nothing about.

By the time all of the stories were told, they were conked out on the living room floor, a big, new, and very peculiar family, united by the Hamato Clan and their absolute hatred towards Shredder and what he had done to them.

This morning had been a bit more lazy. Leo was quick to pick Ethan up off the floor for training. Donnie wanted to clean his lab and Kaela quickly volunteered to assist. April and Casey had gone to Saturday schooling to catch up on all they had missed that morning, much to Casey's dismay. As for Mikey, Jess, and Raph, they were trying to find proper bedding and places to live for the three new siblings.

All of it was surreal.

"Space was pretty cool, but it's nice to be back here again." Leo turned his green face up to the tree leaves above him and looked into the light that filtered from the sewers and made spots of emerald appear on his mask. "Although. . ." Leo went quiet as he looked around the room to the shelf on the other side where a picture stood of Hamato Yoshi as a human, his wife and their little daughter.

Ethan knew the feeling that he had. He had felt it himself when he watched Shredder kill his own master. He tried not to think about it too much. "I know." Ethan said quietly. "Nothing is really quite the same without him." he turned away, not wanting to make the situation any more awkward than talking to a giant turtle already was – although he wasn't one to talk as he was a giant talking red panda. "Bishop will give us news soon, I'm sure."

Leo shook his head and smiled at Ethan as he slowly got back to his feet. "Wanna practice _seyonage?_ " he asked. Knowing that Leo was trying to distract himself from thoughts about Splinter, Ethan jumped to his feet and nodded, trying to be a good sport even though his body was desperate for more rest. "You are not nearly as poor a sport as Raph." Leo finished, getting into a fighting stance.

Ethan copied. "I probably don't lose as much either." He said coyly, glad that Raph wasn't there to hear him say it.

Jess picked up an old poster of a metal band on the floor and dusted it off. She twitched her tail curiously as she gazed over it. Flaming red burst from silver tubes behind the main singer and two guitar players that all looked like they belonged in a horror movie. They would have been the serial killers. The fiery colors matched the turtle's mask that stood behind her, sifting through a closet. He was larger than his three brothers, his red mask tattered near the ends. He grumbled as he rummaged through his stuff, shoving away his little brother when necessary.

Mikey was spending a lot more time putting stuff back onto the ground than actually doing what they were in Raph's room to do; namely, find pillows and futons for Jess, Kaela, and Ethan so they could sleep in the lair more comfortably.

"I don't see them." Mikey complained loudly in a sing-songy voice as he looked under Raph's bed. Jess raised an eyebrow and twitched her nose. Mikey didn't seem to have noticed as he made his way to a shelf of action figures and began chucking them out onto the floor.

Jess walked over to the fallen toys and picked one up that looked remarkably like Chris Bradford, the martial artist. "Mikey, do you really think that the futons would fit in a shelf that small?" Jess asked with a degree of sarcasm. She then looked down at the plastic action figure in her hands. The little toy had enough scratches and dents in it to make it nowhere near vintage. "And, why do you have a Chris Bradford action figure?"

"Hey!" Raph nearly fell out of his closet and he raced across the room and snatched the toy from Jess' hands, his cheeks going red as he looked away from her, not making eye contact. "That's mine." He said sheepishly.

Mikey burst into a fit of laughter and jumped on Raph's bed for good measure, completely distracted from his task again as he fell backward, his shell sinking into the mattress. "You don't have to be shy Raph! You have an awesome action figure collection! But not as awesome as my vintage Action Kick Unicorn Man!"

Jess chuckled and folded her arms across her chest as Raph hid his face behind the closet door. "I think it's funny." she said, trying to lighten the mood. Making Raph blush was likely to become a favorite past time for her.

"Let's just keep looking for the futons!" he growled from the closet, throwing out a set of blankets. Jess quickly made her way over to them and lifted them from the ground. They smelled clean to her, so she opened Raph's door and brought them out to the living room. She stepped down into the landing where the TV sat, still playing an episode of _Chris Bradford and His Too Rough Crew_ that Mikey had been watching earlier.

As she leaned down to turn it off, Raph emerged from his room, Mikey close on his tail, a dorky smile spread across his face. In Raph's hands were two dusty looking futons. He let them drop at Jess' feet. "Here's two that I found, but we still need to find one more." he stretched his arm, rolling his shoulder back and glaring at Mikey who jumped from behind him.

"Are you turning off Chris Bradford?" Mikey asked, horror on his face. "Nooo!" He leaped past Jess who had to step out of the way to avoid being stampeded by the orange masked younger brother of the turtles.

"Mikey!" Raph snapped as he poked his brother particularly hard in the face. "I told you not to be stupid, you moron."

"Never get between me and my TV." Mikey hissed back, both of his arms around the television set. A crashing sound interrupted them and both Jess and Raph turned to look in the direction of the sound – the dojo. "They've been in there all day!" Raph said motioning towards the closed dojo doors. "You'd think they'd come out and help a little more." He scooted the futons over towards the couch with his foot.

Jess looked at the doors curiously. She could see the shadow of Ethan and Leo as they practiced their forms inside, under the shade of the tree. She felt like she barely knew Leo, and yet, already she could see that her own brother and him were very much alike – and they had gone through very similar things. She felt more akin to Raphael herself. Although he tried to hide it, she could tell that sometimes, the whole leader thing really bothered him, as it had her. She quickly reminded herself that she had decided to be over that. It didn't shove the negative feelings away as forcefully as she would have liked.

"I'm sure their just bonding over their mutual love of being boring, dude." Mikey said, toppling back onto his shell, legs in the air and his usual smile on his face. He then gasped and got up onto his hands and knees. "We need to make sure Ice Cream Kitty is safe!" He burst from the room and into the kitchen, practically leaving a trail of dust behind him.

Jess and Raph exchanged looks. Jess would have never gone into the kitchen after Mikey to look at the monster from the freezer, but Raph shrugged and then walked into the kitchen and Jess couldn't help but feel that seeing Ice Cream Kitty with Raph wouldn't be so bad.

"Thanks for helping me clean up around her, Kaela." Donnie said as he organized his shelf, righting a Kraang droid head so it was balanced perfectly next to the strange book that he had sitting next to it. If Kaela remembered right, it had some sort of Latin title. "April usually is the one to do all of that – so, it's nice to have someone picking up the job for her."

She smiled up at Donnie as she continued to sweep around his desk with a broom she had found in the lair earlier. "Anytime." She said. It was quiet for a few awkward moments as Donnie sat back down into his desk with a sigh and clicked his mouse to make the screen wake up from it's long sleep without him. "So," Kaela said, trying to busy herself with more sweeping. She looked down at the bristles, even though the floor looked perfectly clean. "You hang out with April a lot, huh?"

Donnie was busy now typing away at his keyboard. "Yeah, she tends to be around us a lot." He said mindlessly. "That's funny, I thought I had locked this computer."

Kaela cleared her throat nervously.

"Why do you ask?" Donnie looked up over the edge of his computer, purple bandanna eyes staring at her curiously.

Kaela stammered, "Uh, well y'know, I've known April for a while and it's j-just crazy that she was always disappearing to be with you guys and we didn't even know! Small world, right?"

"Yeah, no kidding!" Donnie agreed, looking back down at his computer, his three green fingers typing madly across the keyboard. Kaela wouldn't be surprised if his words per minute was better than her own, Ethan, and Jess' combined, even with their five fingers.

"Wow." Donnie commented, looking up at his screen with a smile. "You three have been in a lot of fights here." Kaela quickly picked up the broom and jogged over to the computer and leaned down behind Donatello to see that he was looking at old surveillance video feed. He clicked through Tigerclaw and Bloodmaw's fight in the sewer. "Not bad, not bad!" he said as if talking about a recent movie in the theater. "That was awesome, Kaela!"

"Thanks!" Kaela said smiling and keeping down blush – or so she hoped.

Donnie clicked away to the next video and his mouth dropped open, showing the gap in his teeth. Kaela squinted at the screen and then her face went bright red. "Oh." She said. It was Ethan kissing Karai as she morphed back into a human and puked up a brain worm. "Yeah, that."

Clicking the delete button, Donnie looked up at Kaela, "Well, let's make sure that Leo never heard about that." he said quickly as he nervously laughed.

"Deal." Kaela said with a sharp nod. "So . . ." Kaela could feel her mind rushing back to her conversation from earlier. It was hard to think about much else. "Do you like April?"

Donnie blushed immediately and turned to look at her, "Uh w-what do you mean?" he asked.

Kaela pointed to the picture near his computer of Donnie pushing April on a swing, the frame decorated in hearts. "Oh. That." Donnie quickly snatched the frame from his table and slammed it down so hard that Kaela was surprised that the glass hadn't' shattered. "We-well, I uh . . ." Before Donnie could get any more out, the alarm sounded from his computer, the red light flashing in their eyes. "Oh thank goodness." Donnie said it under his breath, but Kaela still heard it.

Typing madly on his keyboard, the video feed appeared. Kaela and Donnie leaned in close to the screen together to try and figure out what it was they were seeing just as the doors to the lab opened and Mikey, Raph, and Jess appeared in the doorway. "What's going on?" Raph asked, arms folded across his chest.

Donnie looked up from his computer. "Get Ethan and Leo." he said. "They'll want to see this."


	2. Family Feud - Part 2

Episode 18: Family Feud – Part 2

The day grew late into evening and the sky turned a bloody red. The violent color spread across the mostly empty, abandoned room in the Japanese district. The little clutter of old, broken down, Asian styled houses were slammed close together, cluttered as if hiding from the outside New York noise. But the wall that separated it from the rest of the city was small and easily climbed over.

Ashina, from the corner of the room watched until the blood color had spread across the fur of her tail and upward until its fingers reached her heels and then her knees. _I've seen this color too much in my life._ She told herself bitterly as she clutched at her weapon – a twisted katar blade that coiled around her arm. She clutched it close to her; it was her only real friend in this horrible, horrible place. Ashina closed her eyes, sighed, and regretted ever joining Lord Nightshade and the Shinotomo Clan. If she hadn't joined them – she wouldn't be in the form of a wolf/human hybrid.

Her anger burned brighter inside of her and sparked, threatening to spread through her heart like ignited gasoline. Her ears perked up at the slightest sound outside her door – the rustling of wings. She immediately knew who it was and it didn't make her day any better. The old, Japanese style sliding parchment doors slowly slid open reminding Ashina how truly vulnerable she was in this old rickety house.

EmberEye was watching her from the doors. Her huge hawk wings had been pulled in behind her. The shadow made it difficult for her to see the bird/human hybrid, but the piercing red eyes were enough. "I see you and Nightshade are done training today." Ashina said, making sure she sounded spiteful as she said it.

The hawk glared at her and stepped into the room, talons sinking into the floor. " _Lord_ Nightshade." EmberEye corrected her with an authoritative voice. "You will show proper respect for our master, or I will teach it to you."

"You wouldn't be saying that if you didn't have feelings for him." Ashina couldn't believe that She was being so testy to EmberEye. Especially when the bird had her two Chinese hook swords strapped around her middle. She half feared that she was about to start a fight.

EmberEye just stared at her, a fire lit in her eyes, but it was clear that she was learning the same chilling indifference that Lord Nightshade was so good at. "I am not here because I want to be." She finally said, her voice a low whisper, her dark feathers rustling. "Lord Nightshade wants to speak to us all. Now." EmberEye then turned and walked back out into the blood sunset.

Ashina waited until she was out of sight before she slowly picked herself up from the floor. She snatched up her katar and gripped it hard with her fingers. She looked down at her black fur and her gray, sharp claws and wondered for a few moments. A thousand scenarios were beginning to shape themselves in her head. Perhaps she could kill Lord Nightshade when he wasn't looking. Or maybe she could try to set the place on fire. Or she could just run for it and hope he didn't come searching. In the end, she knew that all of these were ideas so stupid that they bordered on suicidal. She finally resigned herself as she always did, to continue as she was doing, and she walked out from the broken Japanese building that she called home and walked down the graveled lane towards the main temple where Lord Nightshade would be waiting with the others.

From one of the nearby huts, she could see the tell-tale glow of mutagen. McGrath had not stopped working on - whatever it was he was working on - for days. The man was a psychopath as far as Ashina was concerned. But today, the room seemed to be empty.

Wooden steps creaked under her paws as she made her way to the door and her tail brushed her heels behind her. With a final deep breath, wishing she could burst through the doors, weapon blazing, she pushed the doors open quietly.

Candles had already been lit, spotting the corners of the room with a flickering light. Gore, the huge hulking grizzly bear mutant sat in the far corner near the door. His huge war hammer was gripped by his bristly brown hand that was the size of a dishpan. Bloodmaw, the hyena mutant sat on the ground respectfully looking forward. His ear had been chopped off and the stump had built up angry red scar tissue around its edges. His yellow eyes burned as he turned to glance at who had entered. He then quickly looked forward again. Doctor McGrath was sitting in the other corner, leaning casually against the wall, looking over a clipboard of papers, a long white coat hung around his thin shoulders and trailed to the ground and his black hair shone with an eerie orange glow cast on him by the candle bracket next to him. He adjusted his glasses and gave a cunning smile at Ashina as she approached where Bloodmaw was.

EmberEye was standing in the other corner near a window, her head bowed respectfully to the one that stood like a black looming shadow at the front of the room. Ashina kneeled in front of Lord Nightshade next to Bloodmaw. The figure that stood in front of them was clothed in black scarfs that covered his shoulders and trailed down his front and back. Black, skintight armor covered most of the rest of his body, including his hands and fingers. His hood was up and a glinting mask decorated in vine-like patterns covered his face entirely. Only two slits opened for his eyes, showing their piercing icy whiteness. "Welcome, Ashina." He said softly, but the words did not comfort her in the least. Instead they stung her as if he had taken actual blows to her.

She chose to say nothing.

Lord Nightshade looked up and gazed around the room from EmberEye in one corner to McGrath in the other. "We have accomplished much since coming to New York." He said, his voice muffled from behind the metal mask, yet no less deadly and precise as the two katana blades that hung at his side. "We have taken most of the mutagen from our old enemy Oroku Saki, and have discovered the existence of the Hamato Clan." He paused for a moment and then continued, "Now we have Don Vizioso, owner of a large portion of the mafia on our side. Shredder still believes that the gluttonous beast is still working for him which will prove to our advantage."

Ashina listened quietly. This was always the way Lord Nightshade worked. He would never speak his plans in full – never let his own servants in on the nitty gritty details. Instead, she felt like being led on a chain from place to place until finally she realized all the disgusting details of what she had helped him accomplish. Lord Nightshade continued, "For my plans to continue without issue, we will need more mutagen. At least five times the amount we now have. For that reason, I want us to direct any and all attention to the Kraang. They are easy targets, but intel has told me that they are disappearing from the city more and more. We must not allow that precious compound to escape us. Without it, we are delayed. But with it, we can destroy the Hamato and the Foot clan in a single deadly blow."

Counting, Ashina knew that they had collected pounds and pounds, boxes and boxes of mutagen for Lord Nightshade. _Five times the amount we have now!?_ She thought ridiculously. She could hardly imagine what kind of plan he was cooking up. Lord Nightshade turned his back to them and gazed at the flames of a candelabra behind him, his hands folded quietly behind his back. "All of us, myself included, will be joining in a raid against a nearby Kraang facility."

"Sir, I—." McGrath began but Lord Nightshade held up his hand and the man went immediately silent, although he scowled and began writing on a piece of paper on his clip board, as if venting his feelings in ink.

"You're presence is key, Doctor McGrath." Lord Nightshade said coldly. There was no arguing against that tone. Not if you wanted to keep your head on your neck. "We will not be transporting any mutagen tonight, but rather, taking over the entire facility and beginning some of our operations in experimentation there."

Dr. McGrath looked like he wanted to say something coy and smart back, but instead he nodded his head and continued pay more attention to his clipboard. Ashina breathed a sigh of relief inside. Although she had no interest in McGrath and his annoying smiles and his stupid glasses, she didn't like seeing anyone get murdered in cold blood.

Lord Nightshade then turned to look at Bloodmaw. "You on the other hand," he said, his eyes narrowing, "Are to search for the Hamato Clan in the sewers. I want to know exactly where they are and what they are up to."

Bloodmaw didn't speak but bowed his head in submission.

Lord Nightshade then turned to face EmberEye. "Let us begin."

EmberEye smiled and Ashina could hear an eager, bloodthirsty growl rip from Gore's throat behind her. Bloodmaw looked just as unhappy as she did. At least she wasn't the only one who wasn't eager for this plan.

As soon as Raph came to get them, Ethan and Leo came running to Donnie's lab. Their feet pounded against the ground until they came skirting through the door. The way that Raph had looked at them certainly was enough to alarm them. They followed quickly behind and Ethan was incredibly relieved – they had been training for hours and his body felt like it was ready to collapse on itself. He had to practically limp his way down the stairs and over to the huge hanger doors that held Donnie's lab.

Donnie, Kaela, and Mikey were leaning over his desk at his PC computer, the screen lighting up their concerned faces. Raphael cleared away a series of glass beakers with little care in order to lean on the table with his elbows. Jess looked up at Ethan and then quickly to Leo and then back to him. She smoothed her white fur nervously and her fox ears tucked behind her head. Still trying not to pant loudly, Ethan followed on Leo's heels until they all were crowded in front of the computer.

Donatello was playing a current video feed of a circular, large sewer passage. Ethan immediately recognized it as the exact same one that he had fought and kissed Karai in not long ago, as well as the same one that Bloodmaw and Tigerclaw had attacked them in. Water was spilling out into the pit in the middle, but something was moving in the shadows of the tunnel. Something that was slithering. The strange shadow would rear up and seemingly attack. Yells could be heard echoing down the pipes through the computer speaker.

"What is it?" Mikey asked, leaning in closely to the computer screen, blocking the view for everyone else.

"Move, Mikey." Donnie insisted, pushing at Michelangelo's head until the screen was easily seen once more. Then, the slithering figure moved into the light and transformed from serpent to human.

"Karai." Ethan and Leo said at the exact same time.

Kaela winced.

The low quality video showed Karai fall to her side. She was making an odd gasping noise, like she was hurt. Another figure was moving into the shot and Ethan immediately felt his heart clench and his blood turn to fire. It was the hyena mutant from the Shinotomo Clan, and his face was filled with delight.

"We have to save Karai." Leonardo said quickly, moving away from the table and already making his way out the door of Donnie's lab.

Raph immediately moved into action and got in front of his taller brother, putting his green hands out to stop him. "Hold up there!" he said roughly, "You can't just run into this – I mean, do you honestly want to risk it all for your _girlfriend?_ That freaky mutant would be doing us a favor by taking her out."

Feeling dumbfounded, Ethan looked at Leo with a new light – a light that he didn't particularly feel fond of. It felt like his stomach was boiling, his mind reeling and he clenched his fists to fight back what he knew was a surge of jealousy. Why did Raphael say _girlfriend_ the way that he had?

Donnie stood up from his computer desk and walked over to Leo and put his hand on his shoulder. Leo had gone into stony silence. "What Raph is trying to say is that whatever is going on between the Foot and that other clan isn't worth us getting involved. It really could be dangerous."

"We can't leave Karai to face that guy alone!" Leo retorted angrily.

Jess and Kaela both glanced in Ethan's direction and he felt his face flush. "Yeah!" he said walking up to Donnie and Raph. Raphael's expression changed from anger to shock and Donnie looked at Leo from the corner of his eye nervously. "We can't leave Karai out there alone. She doesn't have that brain worm controlling her anymore – she isn't on Shredder's side."

Looking just as shocked as Raphael, Leo turned to Ethan. "How do you know that?" he asked curiously.

"Uh…" Ethan tried to figure out what would be appropriate to say. Something like: _Well, I kissed her and she probably has feelings for me, so that's what snapped her out of it. So back of Leo. She's mine,_ was on the tip of his tongue but he decided that those words probably wouldn't be his best choice, although they would feel satisfying to say.

Ethan could feel Kaela and Jess' awkward stare at the back of his head. Luckily Donnie came to the rescue. "What does it matter how it happened – the simple truth is that we can't afford to lose anyone else from our family, and by the sound of what Kaela, Jess, and Ethan have been telling us, he isn't the best guy to mess with."

"Forget it." Leo said, shrugging off Donnie's hand. "I'm going. I can't let anything happen to her."

Ethan immediately ducked under Donnie's outstretched arm. "I'm going too." Ethan said. "I trust Karai more than anyone." He realized that his last statement wasn't entirely accurate, but he wanted to make sure that Leo knew that he had history with her too. Leo didn't seem to have taken notice, or perhaps he had ignored what Ethan had said. Either way, the two of them were jumping over the bean bags and television set and making their way down deeper into the sewers.

Raphael turned, his arms folded across his chest, an indifferent expression plastered on his face. "I don't know if I want to get in the middle of that one." He said. "Wake me up if anything exciting happens." He slowly made his way over to the couch, Mikey following close behind him saying something about Chris Bradford and snatching up the remote control before his older brother could sit on it.

"Guess I better watch what happens." Donnie said returning to the screen. "I would hate for the hyena mutant to hurt one of them."

Jess turned to Kaela, "I just hope they don't hurt each other." She whispered.


	3. Family Feud - Part 3

Episode 18: Family Feud – Part 3

Splashes echoed in the dark, following Ethan and Leonardo as they ran down the tunnels. Burned into Ethan's mind was the image of Karai, on the ground, beaten, hurt, the Hyena standing over her with glinting eyes. It spurred his feet forward into a dead sprint. Leo seemed to be doing his best to stay a few steps ahead. "So, what's the plan?" Ethan asked as they moved. It felt odd not being the one coming up with the plans. It almost felt like a betrayal to him, his white bandanna reminding him that he had been assigned as a leader.

"Not sure yet." Leonardo responded in between pants. His large brown shell blocked off much of Ethan's view of the tunnel and he straightened himself as he ran, trying to peer over the turtle's head. Instead he just caught the blue ends of his mask in his face. He spluttered and slowed his pace grudgingly. He could hear sounds coming up ahead. They weren't far.

Ethan's mind began to spin and he quickly said, "I have an idea."

Leo didn't reply, so Ethan took that as consent that he could let him in on his idea. "You should go around through the secondary tunnels and come up behind Bloodmaw while I keep him busy talking."

"What?" Leo said, "Why aren't you going into the secondary tunnels and I go to talk to Bloodmaw?"

"Because, Bloodmaw knows who I am. He won't be surprised when he see's me. But he has never met you! He won't know that you are there!" Ethan did like his plan – but not just because it felt like it could work.

Leonardo seemed to be dealing with something inside his head as they ran. He looked at Ethan with eyes that were unreadable and finally he said, "Okay, yeah. That should work." They slowed down their pace, the splashes echoing into the distance. Leonardo moved quietly, the water stirred around his large feet, wrapped in brown and Ethan sprinted forward, making sure to make as much noise as possible to ensure that Leo's own footsteps wouldn't be heard in the tunnels. He swished his red and black tail back and forth in the water behind him just for good measure.

Within a few moments, the sewer opened up to him like a grand auditorium – only it smelt of dead fish, rats, and rotting food. Light was gleaming through the vents up above them. Karai was lying on the ground, her body nearing the edge that led to the large pit in the center of the sewer's grand hall and down ten feet into a river of pooling filth. Her face was bruised, her lip cut and her fists were clenched. Bloodmaw stood directly over her, his claws poised to strike, his yellow eyes burned through the shadows like acid.

"Hey!" Ethan shouted, coming to a halt at the rim of the pit.

Bloodmaw started, his eyes darting from the victim that lay in front of him on the rim, to the other side where Ethan stood, naginata in hand. He listened quietly for the sounds of Leonardo in the tunnels surrounding them but thankfully heard nothing. Bloodmaw's face split into a grin showing his rows of sharp, yellowed teeth. "I was hoping you would show up, fox."

"Red Panda, actually." Ethan retorted, still distracted by his concentration of the sounds around him. Still nothing. "What are you doing here? Looking for Tigerclaw again? For your information he tends to spend most of his time upside."

"I was looking for you." Bloodmaw snarled back, "And I found someone on the way."

Karai lifted her torso and she turned. "Ethan?" she asked, blood trickling down the side of her face. "Is that you?"

"Karai." Ethan said gently.

Leonardo's shadow appeared in the tunnel behind Bloodmaw.

 _Ruined the moment._ Ethan kept thinking over and over in his head, but he crouched lower and pointed his naginata out threateningly at Bloodmaw. "Let her go."

Bloodmaw put his clawed foot on Karai's shoulder, shoving her back down, water splashing up around her neck and drenching her hair. "How about you show me where you Hamato brats are hiding and nobody has to die today." Bloodmaw then looked down at Karai, his teeth baring with glee. "Otherwise, this one will be sleeping with the sludge."

"Get off of her." A katana blade glanced off the light as it appeared from the darkness behind Bloodmaw, placing the sharp side near his neck, next to his shoulder blade. Bloodmaw froze where he was, his fur on his shoulders bristling and he tried to get a look at who was behind him without turning his head. He quickly put his foot off of Karai, but she didn't move from where she was, face still in the puddle on the rim that rippled around her face, her eyes closed.

Bloodmaw slowly moved, but Leo did not strike. "So," He scoffed, "You found more mutants. A turtle this time? Can turtles even fight?"

"Oh, I'll show you how well I can fight." Leo said back, his voice going deadly low. Bloodmaw, being distracted, Ethan inched his way around the rim towards Karai but immediately froze when Bloodmaw turned to him.

Bloodmaw's maw turned into a frown, his teeth bared in anger, "Your stupid clan always gets in my way. Just make this easy for me for once, will you?" With a flash a piece of wood appeared and with a sound of a gunshot, Leonardo's katana was slammed out of the way and Bloodmaw had jumped out of the way, balancing on one of his hands and skirting around to face Ethan. A second tanto spun through the air for only a moment from behind the Hyena before he caught it in midair and gave it a thrash as if to test it. They moved effortlessly through Bloodmaw's fingers and into battle position. "I guess I'll just have to beat the answers out of you."

Ethan had just enough time to throw his naginata in front of him to dodge a powerful swing of Bloodmaw's tanto that spun around his elbow before flashing back into ready mode for another attack. Leonardo jumped forward into the fray, his katana blades thudding against one of the tanto's while Ethan twirled his naginata, the bladed end curving into a poised blow.

Bloodmaw moved through them effortlessly, his savage eyes darting back and forth between his two targets, his attacks were quick, precise, deadly, and incredibly painful when not blocked successfully. Ethan felt the dull wood slam into a pressure point just above his shoulder and his breath came out in a short burst, shock racking his body like he was a bell that had just been slammed by hammer.

From all the training, Ethan knew that Leonardo was quick, but he wasn't quite as quick as Bloodmaw. The hyena moved with the accuracy of an archer, yet his blows were like a sledgehammer – vicious, bloodthirsty easily tasted behind them.

With a devastating slam that was barely thrown off by Leonardo's katanas that he crossed in front of him, Bloodmaw's foot swung up and kicked Leonardo in the side of the neck and he fell off balance. It was all the time Ethan needed. Ducking under a rogue swing, Ethan jabbed the butt of his naginata into Bloodmaw's ribs and dug.

The hyena shrieked and fell backward, landing near Karai who still lay motionless in a pool of murky liquid. Leonardo groaned and straightened himself, one of his katana lay on the ground, but the other was tightly gripped in his hand. His eyes seemed to be going in and out of focus.

 _The ball is still in my court!_

Ethan jumped at the chance and sprinted the short distance between him and Bloodmaw, the blade poised for a straight stab. Bloodmaw cried, his eyes burning with rage. There was a flash of teeth and Ethan felt his arm caught in the locked jaw of his enemy. Pain burst around his forearm and he could see the orange-red fur turning crimson. He felt his mind go dizzy and he frantically lifted his naginata to slam it into the monster's head, but suddenly, Bloodmaw was being thrown off of him.

For a few seconds, Ethan couldn't register what was going on. But then he could see that Karai had gotten onto her knees, one of her arms had lengthened into a deadly serpent that still wrapped around the hyena's waist, her hand – a serpent head that snapped greedily at its victim's throat. Bloodmaw cried again and clawed, digging his fingernails into the neck of the snack and ripping. With a cry, Karai's arm and hand retreated back to their original form, her arm now bloodied and the skin torn and she fell back into the puddle, her breath stirring the water.

Not looking back once, Bloodmaw vanished into the tunnel he had come from, enveloped by darkness and whimpering like a wounded dog.

Ethan didn't realize how he had gotten onto the ground, but he was holding himself up by his arms, his pants soaked from the water near the pit's edge, staring and trembling at Karai's limp form. Leonardo slowly limped over to her. "Karai." He said softly, putting his fingers on her face.

Instantly Ethan snapped out of it like he had just swallowed a bucket of ice.

Leo put his arm under Karai and slowly lifted her up onto his shoulders, his arms under her legs to support her from falling off his shell. "Let's head back – Donnie can help fix us up." He said turning to look at Ethan. "You're arm looks bad."

Ethan looked down at his arm. "Oh, right." He had forgotten about the pain until Leo had brought it up. If anything, something inside had been feeling more damaged. He brushed off that thought, although the ache inside still lingered. He tried to focus on the wound on his arm and delve into that pain instead as they slowly walked around the rim and back into the tunnel towards the lair. Blood had matted his fur and large gouges where Bloodmaw's teeth had sunk in made black spots on his arm that looked angry and deep.

"I can help carry her for a while." Ethan muttered, watching Leo in front of him, Karai's slumped form covering the turtle's expression.

"It's all good. I got it."

Ethan felt another throb inside and discarded it again as unnecessary anger.

The pain was starting to intensify in his arm.

 _Good._

This wound could help distract from the real one. One that made him feel like getting mad at his new friend. One that made him want to challenge Leo. Ethan ignored the feelings and kept walking until finally the lair was in sight.

The tale-tell glow of mutagen filled the entire warehouse with eerie green light and dark shadows that stretched up the side of the graffiti littered cement walls. The entire warehouse remained silent. Computers had been smashed here and there and dust had already started to accumulate on the floor. Rats scurried away from the newcomers that had thrown the huge heavy doors open with little effort.

Pidgeon's flew away that were perching on the broken glass several stories above the gigantic vat of glistening ooze. Lord Nightshade walked in, leading the others in the Shinotomo Clan, his shadow stretching across the ground and his scarf stirring around him from the draft that picked up at the opening of the hanger doors. The tattered ends brushed and mirrored off his gleaming mask. Ashina, Gore, EmberEye, and McGrath stood behind him. "How odd." Although Lord Nightshade said it quietly, it still echoed around the room and his fingers curled around the hilt of his word. "The Kraang abandoned their hide away too hastily." He then turned to look at his servants behind him. "Search the entire facility." He commanded.

Immediately they all broke away into the shadows. Ashina looked over broken fragments of computer. She recognized this place well. She had been here before when the one known as Kraang Sub-Prime had attacked the three from the Hamato Clan that she had seen often. They had been transported somewhere and their friend had been transformed into an owl mutant against his will. She kicked at some of the dust and let the glass slide across the floor. She turned to glance in the direction of Lord Nightshade.

He was standing pensive, hands behind his back, talking to McGrath about something as they approached the huge vat of mutagenic ooze. She could hardly conceive why he would need such large supplies of Mutagen. She turned at the sudden sound that sounded like a scream mixed with some kind of shriek. In the far, dark corner of the room she could see the hulking shadow of Gore, his paw out pinning something against the ground that flailed in every direction.

Lord Nightshade immediately turned his attention to the pitch dark corner and leaving McGrath where he stood, he strode past Ashina to join Gore. "I found this one sneaking in the corner." Gore grumbled, his voice shaking the ground around him. Ashina walked quietly behind her Master to get a better look.

She immediately recognized the figure. It was Sam, the person that the other three friends had been trying to rescue and who had fallen into the mutagen vat. His arms were slack at his side, feathered and sprouting out in snow white spreads. His mouth was morphed to that of a large beak and his feathers sprouted from his forehead like horns on either side of his eye. His eyes were wide and human – but filled with an entire lack of humanity. He struggled and cried again, but he wasn't going anywhere. Ashina could see that one of his arms was badly broken, the wing bent at an odd angle that would have turned other people's stomachs, but she had seen much worse. Lord Nightshade turned to Gore. "Release him."

The bear immediately lifted his massive clawed paw to allow Lord Nightshade to get closer. The owl mutant cowered into the corner, flapping one of his wings feebly. Lord Nightshade bowed himself to the ground, his armored black knees scraped against the cement. "Are you lost, mutant?" He spoke quietly, calmly. Ashina knew that voice – it was the same one that he had used to convince her to join him that day long ago. Lord Nightshade drew closer and Sam began to calm himself. "Do you remember your name?"

The mutant didn't speak, but trembled, watching the new comer. Lord Nightshade reached out and placed his gloved hand on the owl's head gently and the mutant went still and closed his eyes. Ashina could see the same thing in her memory. And she regretted it.

"McGrath." Lord Nightshade called. "We are taking this mutant back with us. I want you to restore his sanity."

"Should be simple." McGrath boasted, pulling out a pen from one of his pockets and he began to scribble a series of notes on a notepad.

Lord Nightshade nodded to Gore who reached down and with little effort at all, picked up Sam like a child being cradled in his large, furry arms. The troop began to walk back to their regular business as Gore left the warehouse to deliver their new recruit back to their hideaway.

Ashina felt sourness in her mouth.

The Shinotomo Clan's new captive.


	4. Winter is Coming - Part 1

Episode 19: Winter is Coming – Part 1

Kaela spun the dial on her locker and with a clang opened the large door. She was tired. Really tired. The last two nights she had spent most of her time up with Donnie helping him in his lab as he tried his best to help Karai. She had gone through a lot and hadn't really returned to full consciousness. It made things in the lair too tense for comfort and school was a great sanctuary. Here she was safe. Here she could dance her thoughts away after class and spend more of her time pretending, at least for a day, that she was a normal person with a normal life.

"Kaela."

And her sanctuary crumbled around her.

Noel was striding towards her, business on her face. The girl was half her size with a small round face and dark eyes. She had her short black hair done in a tiny ponytail behind her head. Kaela loved Noel. But a few weeks ago they had been ambushed together in the gym by Kraang Sub-Prime and explaining a giant oozing brain monster in a robot suit was a little difficult. It was going to be even more difficult to explain how she actually fought the guy with a ninja weapon. Noel had ever since been rather determined to get an answer from Kaela and she had been rather persistent at avoiding Noel all together.

Noel stopped in front of her locker. "Can we talk?" She asked, eyes intense, hands on her hip. She was leaning forward expectantly.

"Oh, hey, Noel! How are you?" Kaela said trying to sound as innocent as possible.

Noel smiled, "Cute, but you aren't getting out of this conversation this time. Friends tell friends stuff and you haven't told me what the heck I saw a few weeks ago."

Kaela laughed, "Oh, I know! That weird lunch that we ate at school – I still have no idea what that was. I mean, I was hallucinating and everything. What did you see when you were wigging out?"

Noel gave Kaela a friendly slap on the arm, although there was definitely some force behind it. "Seriously, Kaela! I know I wasn't wigging out on anything. What the heck was that robot monster." Other students were giving them weird looks as they walked by, but Noel didn't seem to care at all as she wasn't lowering her voice in the slightest.

Sighing, Kaela shut her locker and spun the dial and then turned back to her expectant friend who leaned against the nearby locker, textbooks in her arms and a pointed stare on her face. "Okay." Kaela finally said, "Is it okay if we talk about it after school?"

Noel finally nodded. "Fine." She said.

"What's up Sparkles?" A voice sounded behind her and before Kaela turned around she knew exactly who it was. Only one person called her "Sparkles."

Casey Jones.

He was walking with April at his side. She had Trigonometry text books. He had a hockey stick. "Hey guys!" Kaela called back. "What's up?"

"Since when did they decide to come back to school?" Noel asked. "They've been gone for, like, three months." Kaela could sense a hint of something in Noel's voice that sounded far too close to jealousy.

"They've just been at a different school or something, I think. Do you want to come hang out with us?"

"Nah." Noel replied. "I think I'll just see you after school. I've got to get back to lunch. I'm starving." She turned and began walking back the way she had come, her books clutched close to her chest. Kaela watched her, feeling guilt wrenching her insides uncomfortably.

 _Why is life so complicated?_ Kaela thought.

With a deep exhale she mustered another smile and turned back to April and Casey who had managed to fight the crowd of students to her. April shifted to look around Kaela. "Does Noel want to hang out with us? She didn't have to leave." Kaela glanced at the beautiful necklace around April's neck that moved with her so smoothly. The tiny blue stone was shaped almost like an arrowhead. She never took it off and Kaela didn't blame her. From April's description she had gotten it from a Star stone of some kind in space from the most ancient beings in the universe: The Aeons. Not something you could just go buy at _Forever21_ for fifteen bucks.

"It's okay, she said she had to go do something else." Kaela said trying not to sound too forlorn about it.

"Or she's just intimidated by the beast known as Casey Jones." Casey grinned, showing his missing two front teeth. As usual, he was wearing his sleeveless jacket that was speckled with spray paint, a black bandanna tied around his head and hockey gloves covering his hands. Casey had a style that not many others could pull off, but strangely, he didn't look have bad with it.

"I doubt that." April said elbowing him and smiling.

"Yeah, I feel like Noel may be one of the only girls in this school who could beat you up, Casey." Kaela said grinning back at him.

Casey shrugged his shoulders, slinging the hockey stick from his shoulders down to the tiled floor with a loud _clack._ "Not on the ice, she couldn't."

April rolled her eyes and then turned to Kaela. "Hey, do you want to come with us to the gym? We were just going to look at the intern tables and see if there was anything that fit." Casey didn't look nearly as enthusiastic about it, but Kaela liked the idea.

"Sure!"

The three turned and made their way down the hallway, squeezing past students who said with bright smiles: "Hey April!" "Good to see you again, Casey!" "What's up?" It was like the two had died and come back to life – which in some sort of weird way, they had.

Casey flung open the gym doors. The room was crowded with students jumbling from table to table that had been set up in a large square. Reflections of tennis shoes crowded the polished floors reflection. At long last the wall on the other side of the room had been repaired with brick. The three walked together down the rows, trying not to get in the way of other kids. Casey didn't seem as concerned. He shoved through kids, sometimes using his hockey stick to push people along. He would get a few death glares and April rolled her eyes and Kaela would smile sympathetically.

She paused at one of the tables decorated in blue with white stars speckled across the throw over the table. Julliard. Kaela glanced over the hand out, grabbing one. "I would love to go." She said, looking at the pictures of stage performances and beautiful dancers in pinks and deep purples. "That would be so cool!"

April smiled. "You are brilliant, Kaela. That would be the perfect fit for you."

"What about you?" Kaela asked her.

April shrugged, "I would need something really cool to tempt me out of New York. There's a lot going for me here."

Kaela couldn't imagine what she was talking about as they were just in High school. The red head didn't have a job of any sort. She had a feeling that she was talking about the turtles. Kaela thanked the woman behind the booth and they continued on their route.

"Aren't you going to look at some of the booths?" April asked Casey, catching up to him and putting her hand on his arm to slow him down.

Casey raised an eyebrow and smiled slyly. "Really?" he asked. "You think any of these would fit me? I don't see any booths for hockey players or for awesome bone-crushing vigilantes."

"Maybe you should be thinking a little bit more about how you are going to earn money in the future, you dork." April said with a smile to match his own.

"Making money is for chums."

"Or people who want to live."

"I'll just marry someone with a lot of money."

April laughed, "Don't look at me then." She said. Casey turned his head to Kaela expectantly.

"Dancers make like, no money at all, so don't look at me either." Kaela said laughing, "And you aren't really my type."

Casey laughed and shrugged his shoulders casually again, "Your loss."

They continued their way around until they reached the far end where a huge booth stood. It far outmatched all the others in the school. It was decorated in stain black with platinum business cards, thick parchment paper pamphlets and littered with recent news reports of archeological, biological, and other notable discoveries that were covered with a thin layer of glass. A large sign above let them know that the business was none other than one of the richest ones in town: Winter's Corp. The same one that unfortunately had lost a priceless diamond to the Purple Dragons not long ago.

A man in black suit sat behind it, his back straight, his hands folded in his lap. The professionalism was almost intimidating. "Look at this!" April said pointing to a series of old tablets covered in odd pictographs. "That's so cool!"

Kaela glanced over the pictures briefly. A large ruby had recently been found in India. She leaned over and cooed over the picture. "That's so pretty!" she said, looking at the crimson sheen through the glass.

Casey looked bored and slung his hockey stick back over his shoulders and glanced away from the table and over the crowd of students. The man behind the desk however had seen Kaela's interest and he smiled pleasantly. "Looking for the opportunity to expand your career? Next summer we are starting an internship to travel to places across the world including South America for archeological research and artifact discovery."

Kaela tore her eyes away from the ruby. "Nah," she said, "I don't think I am even close to being smart enough for that kind of stuff. I'm more of a performing arts kind of person." She said it apologetically and quickly straightened up and stepped away from the table. "Thank you though."

"I'm interested!"

April's response surprised Kaela and she turned, a little baffled at her. "I bet Donnie would kill for the chance to do something like this." April said turning to Kaela. "I could maybe bring him back something."

The man behind the desk looked pleased and he motioned to a stack of papers next to a news reporting. "Fill out an application and we will see if you have ready for Winter Style." April hastily grabbed one of the sheets and began filling it out with a large gold and onyx pen that sat next to the stack. Kaela glanced over the booth again and considered all that was going on. She could hardly imagine the future. Perhaps April was right. There was too much going on in New York and if Kaela left, maybe she wouldn't get much of a chance to be with her siblings who needed her most. Shredder was still out there – and although the Kraang's Technodrome had been blown to bits by the Triceratons, she doubted that the soft pink aliens would be gone for long. She tried to think of what Master Hamato would have told her, but nothing was coming to mind.

She looked down at the crumpled blue paper in her hands decorated in silver stars. _Then again, Julliard is still in New York City. I could maybe go to college and fight crime on the side._ She uncrumpled the paper and looked at the information to register online. _Kaela – performing arts dance instructor by day – street vigilante ninja by night._ She scoffed a little and then let the paper crumple again in her hand. _Sounds like me._ She thought sarcastically to herself. She glanced over at April and leaned in to watch her fill out the rest of the paper. "This will be so fun, April! I bet you'll get in." She said cheerfully, wanting to forget all of her own problems.

Kaela let her eyes wander over the papers again and then suddenly, something very familiar caught her eye in the recent news report that was just next to April's elbow and she did a double take. Her heart sank immediately when she looked at the image and she squinted and lowered her head to get a better look. She then looked up at the man. "What is that?" She asked, fighting of the feeling of dread that was pressing in on her.

The man repositioned himself in his seat so he could get a better look at what she was pointing at and then he smiled. "Ah, very interesting subject indeed. Found in New York of all places too not a few days ago! A hybrid creature of both human and scorpion." He leaned back again. "It seems that New York is actually quite the place to find strange biological anomalies – and you can be assured that Winter's Corp is the one who will find and understand them first."

Kaela glanced back at the picture on the recent news report and sure enough, a teenager wearing something very similar to a motorcyclist, leather and studded bracelets. A large scorpion tail came from his backside and was poised to strike, his arms were large pincers, and the tips of his black hair was dyed with purple, a twisting purple dragon tattoo on his upper arm.

Mako.

She shook her head as uncaringly as she could and pretended to look around at the other items, brushing her long brown hair back behind her shoulders nonchalantly. "So, you keep everything you find at the Winter's Corp headquarters?" she asked.

"Indeed." The man said proudly.

"Even this scorpion thing? I mean – wouldn't that be kind of dangerous?"

April had finished her application and handed the paper over to the man who took it, but with his eyes still on Kaela. "Not at all." He said. "We keep him secured and under control while we run our tests at the headquarters."

"Wow." Kaela said. "You guys are good."

 _But not very good at keeping secrets._ She thought to herself. April looked at Kaela, confused, and absentmindedly held the glowing Aeon necklace around her neck. "Ready to go, April?" Kaela asked.

Casey turned eagerly. "Yes, please? I'm starving and we haven't eaten any lunch yet."

"Yeah." April said slowly, still watching Kaela and then she turned and gave a final thank you to the man behind the counter who was busy trying to entertain more students that had approached the ritzy table. "What was that?" April asked quietly.

Kaela made her way through the students that crowded the gym until they found themselves in the hallway and she grabbed April and Casey by the hand and dragged them to the far end of the hallway so they could have a little privacy. "That guy is a mutant." She said to them.

"I could have told you that." Casey replied.

"No, no – he used to go to this school – it's Mako."

April and Casey looked at each other. They likely didn't know him very well. "And, Jess really liked him. He's a friend of ours. He sacrificed a lot to try and protect us."

"What do you want to do?" April asked.

Kaela looked at her firmly. "We need to get him out of Winter's Corp."


	5. Winter is Coming - Part 2

Episode 19: Winter is Coming – Part 2

Ethan was trying desperately hard to meditate. _With how many times Master Hamato drilled me through this, you would think it would work more._ He thought furiously. Light from the sewer grate above descended down on the green leaves of the huge banzai tree and Ethan sat beneath it, Indian style, hands upturned on his knees, eyes closed. His tail would snake on occasion behind him and run across the tatami mat, but none of the peace of this quiet place that was his home got rid of the images of Leonardo and Karai together in Donnie's lab.

He had tried to sit in the same room to be with her while Donnie worked on her. Her body was bruised and needed some serious healing. Bloody wounds had covered many places, including now her shredded arm. Her eyes had remained closed. Leo hardly ever left her side. Sometimes he would put his hand on her shoulder, or talk to her quietly. Donnie would usually awkwardly clear his throat and keep working. Mikey would laugh. Raph would roll his eyes. Ethan would try to keep the bonfire inside him from bursting out of him.

He breathed out too loudly, too much intensity. This meditation thing wasn't working out the way that he wanted it to. The sound of the moving barricades that surrounded the entrance of the sewers they called home could be heard outside and then the sound of voices. Ethan opened his eyes in frustration and looked at the paper doors of the practice room. Shadows were outside in the living room. Straightening himself and swishing his tail stubbornly behind him, Ethan opened the sliding doors and looked out into the living room.

Kaela, April, and Casey had returned from school. April was slinging her bag off her shoulder and rubbed her muscles there with her hand. Donnie poked his head out from his lab and lifted off a pair of glass doctor glasses. "Hi, April!" He said with a smile.

"Need help?" Casey asked giving a snide smile in Donatello's direction and he put his hand on April's shoulder and began to massage it. April gave him a quick smile and allowed Casey to continue.

Donnie looked ready to breath fire.

Quick to divert any possible argument, Ethan stepped down the stone stairs to the living room. "What's going on?" he asked after seeing Kaela's urgent expression. She gave Ethan a solemn look and then they darted quickly to the kitchen where Raphael, Jess, and Mikey were coming from. Ethan turned back to Kaela. "What is it?" He said it slowly, not sure that he wanted to hear what the answer was.

"It's Mako." Kaela said gravely.

Now Ethan knew why she had been looking at Jess.

At the mention of his name, Jess perked up. Raphael gave her a sideways glance but continued walking at his own pace, his usual frown on his face, arms folded across the yellow carapace chest. Jess quickly walked up to Kaela and Jess, her white, bushy tail swishing behind her, the green bandanna around her head tugging at the fur on the sides of her face. "What about Mako?" She asked.

"Whose Mako? Your boyfriend?" Raphael asked nonchalantly, his large arms still across his chest.

Jess stuttered, "Uh-w-well, No. Not at all."

Raphael did not look convinced and Mikey cooed, "Ooo, Jess, you didn't tell us you had a boyfriend!"

"Shut up, Mikey." Jess snapped.

Raphael nodded his approval, hands still across his chest, eyes closed, as if reveling in the words Jess had said. Mikey laughed, the words glancing off his shell and he dodged out of the way of one of Raphael's pokes, moving his way towards Donnie who was approaching April and Casey.

Not wanting to be a part of Donnie's war of devotion, Ethan and Jess turned their attention back to Kaela who still was looking thrown off, some sweat beading on her forehead. "I know where Mako is." Jess leaned forward eagerly and something shone in her eyes that Ethan hadn't seen in a long time. "Winter's Corp has him captured somewhere in their building. I'm sure of it." Kaela said.

"How do you know that?" Ethan asked skeptically.

"There was an internship fair at the school today." Casey said, letting his hands drop from April's shoulders back to his hoodie pocket. "And April applied for Winter's Corp's study abroad." April looked a little disgruntled at Casey's transparency, but what he said seemed to have been enough for Jess.

She turned to Ethan, still eying Kaela. "We need to go get him."

Ethan flicked his tail and furrowed his brow under his white face mask. "I dunno." He muttered under his breath, rubbing at the fur on his neck with his knuckles, looking at anything but Jess' eyes. "Every time we throw ourselves out there, Shredder and his gang tend to show up." He slowed his speech and finally let his eyes lock on Jess'. "I don't think it's a good idea."

Jess shook her head determinedly, her white fur fluffing at the edges of her cheeks making her look more intimidating. "No, Ethan. Not this time." Ethan immediately felt his body flush, all eyes on him and Jess. But Jess did not back down. "Mako saved our lives. If it weren't for what he did, the whole city would have been in serious trouble – including us! So it doesn't matter what _might_ turn up. We owe it to him."

The lair went completely quiet as the two stared at each other, Jess' voice still echoing off the corners of the walls and back to them. "Wow," muttered Donatello, "You would think that you guys are Raph and Leo."

Ethan ignored the comment and placed the points of his black claws on his nose, pinching it as if to relieve a throb in his forehead. "Fine." He said. "If you want to play this love chase—."

"What's _that_ supposed to mean?"

"Whatever. I'll help."

Jess looked like she had been shoved backward.

"Really?"

Donnie turned to April and Casey, "Boy, I wish Raphael and Leonardo's fights ended that way more often."

"Really." Ethan replied as Raphael slapped Donnie in the back of the head, his face dead panning. "But we wait until nightfall. We aren't breaking into one of the richest guys in New York's headquarters in broad daylight."

"Deal."

"You guys are doing so much better!" Kaela flung her arms around both of their shoulders so hard that they both knocked heads, their fur giving them little padding. "And as a plus, you are both so cuddly!"

Ethan watched from the corner of his eye as he untangled his ears from Jess' that Donnie had turned to April. Ethan could smell a wound that didn't bleed and couldn't be seen on the surface of the turtle's green skin. "You applied for a study abroad? Like, out of the country?"

April nodded with a smile, "It would be awesome to get in! Investigate South American forests, find old artifacts! It would be so much fun! But," she looked away, "I don't really expect to get in."

Laughing, Kaela nudged April's arm with her own, "Yeah right. You're a genius!"

"Thanks, Kaela."

"She's right, you got this Red!" Casey added.

Donnie had gone quiet.

Once moon beams could be seen through the grating above the tree, Ethan got Jess, Kaela, Casey, April, Raph, Donnie, and Mikey together. "Okay, so who is actually going to do the breaky inning?" Mikey asked, lounging on the living room floor on his stomach, twiddling his large three green fingers across the recently cleaned concrete.

"I was thinking all of the non-mutants." Ethan said quickly.

"Jess, you'll want to—." Kaela began, but Jess cut her off.

"I'm going in after Mako."

"Called it."

Ethan had no desire to fight anymore when it came to Jess' love life. _I don't think I have won a single fight on this subject with her since she ever went on a date with him into Purple Dragon territory._ He complained to himself. With a long sigh lingering on his whiskers he nodded. "Fine, fine. Jess, Kaela, Casey, and April, you guys can break in and find Mako."

"Not a problem," April said, "With the Aeon crystal, this will be easy." As if on cue, the spear shaped stone that hung around her neck winked with blue light.

"That means the rest of us get to stay outside and kick anyone's butt who tries to stop them, right?" Raph asked.

Ethan slowly nodded. He was about to ask where Leo was, but the words went up in flames in his mind. Those words weren't going to be allowed through his teeth, because then the answer would be forced into his ears and he knew it would sting to hear. "Okay. Let's go."

As they sprinted out into the dark subway tunnels, Ethan paused at the entrance to their sewer home, eyes locked on the steel doors that led to Donnie's lab. Karai would be laying in their, Leo still at her side.

His nose stung and he realized he had been clenching his fist hard as tiny beads of red had appeared where his nails pierced. _I need to be more careful in this body._

He sprinted after his siblings, padded feet splashing in puddles alongside the silver trail of railings that they followed all the way up to the surface.

New York hadn't fallen asleep, as it never did. Lights lit up the sky, replacing stars with neon lights like glowing fireflies dotting the old walls, faking daylight. For that reason, Ethan hadn't been on the main streets since his transformation several months ago. Now Jess had to join him in the shadows and they had recruited new friends who struggled in the light as well. Ethan would have felt guilty watching Kaela live her life alone in the "real world" but Casey and April had since joined her and by the sound of her stories that she gave Jess and him at night, her new friend Noel was pestering her constantly about the attack of Sub-Prime on the gym.

Shrinking back into the shadows, blending into the only night that there was in New York, Ethan turned to the others. "Alright," he began, "Mutants to the top of the roof. Casey, April, and Kaela, you make your way as discretely to Winter's Corp as you can from the streets."

"Hey, what made you leader?" Raph asked, raising his – whatever turtles had instead of eyebrows.

Donnie spun to face his stockier brother, "Leo isn't here right now. Do you want Mikey to be leader?"

Mikey grinned. "I can do it! Let me do it!"

"Please, no." Jess moaned.

"I don't to be leader or anything, let's just do this!" Ethan snapped.

With a disgruntled nod from Raphael, they turned and sprinted up the wall. This was as normal as walking on the street had once been. Ethan lunged and tucked his fingers around the railing of a fire escape and pushed himself up easily. His feet moved quickly up metal stairs and he flipped up, latching his ankles to the next set of railing and then launched his upper body upward and landed gracefully on the roof of the building, sliding his leg in a crescent as he did so to keep his balance and kicking up a storm of pebbles and dirt.

It didn't long before the shadowy tower of Winter's Corp appeared like a polished, gleaming but jagged nail jutting out of the dark maze of alleyways. Huge spotlights helped the silver gleam even brighter, as if it were trying to imitate the sun in the darkness. Jess lead the charge, moving quicker than the others, her kamas tucked under her arms, but at the ready. Ethan booked it past Raphael, Donatello, and Michelangelo until he was arm to arm with his white furred sister. "I thought you liked Raph now." Ethan muttered, just loud enough to not be drowned out by the sound of pounding feet.

Jess glared at him from the corner of her eyes.

"C'mon," Ethan continued with a grin, "is that some kind of _mamorukatachi?_ "

"I'm not evading blows." Jess said. "I don't know how to answer your question. So I'm glaring at you for annoying me enough to think about it."

Ethan laughed.

The long, white concrete wall that surrounded Winter's Corp almost looked like silver up close. Ethan, Jess, and the turtles skidded to a halt at the edge of the nearest building that led down into a side street and then to the wall that was littered with security cameras.

"This is going to suck." Ethan muttered, trying not to let Jess hear him.

"Let's move!" Raph said spinning his sai's from the sides of his belt and a grin on his face.

"And ignore all of the security cameras?" Donnie asked skeptically. "Have you forgotten shell-for-brains that Winters is _capturing_ mutants! How do you think he'll feel about a bunch of turtles, a red panda and an artic fox walking around his office? Not to mention there is sure to be a thousand security guards ready to gun us down."

"Red panda? Ethan's not a panda." Mikey said, getting an inch from Ethan's arm and examining him. "He's a fox . . . thing."

Ethan raised his eyebrow.

"He's a _Ailurus Fulgens_ Mikey! Probably a breed from the eastern Himalayas sometimes referred to as – ."

"Really!" Raph snapped, "We're gonna do this now?"

"They're here!" Jess pointed down to the street. Casey, April, and Kaela had appeared around the corner. Casey's skeleton mask had been pushed down over his face.

"Really?" Ethan hissed. "That mask is the furthest thing from discrete."

The three paused and even from this distance, Ethan could see the pale blue glow of the Aeon crystal as April brought her hand up to the sleek metal doors of Winter's Corp. With the sound of shuddering metal and tumbling unseen gears, the doors slowly slid open.

Ethan noticed Jess wince from the corner of his eye.

 _That metal noise didn't hurt my ears…_ he wondered, _maybe artic foxes have better hearing than red pandas._

The doors slowly stopped moving, leaving just a large enough gap for a person to slip through. "Alright." Ethan said quietly, "We will wait for them to slip through and then we can distract and preoccupy any guards while they make their way to the main doors of the building."

"Nope." Jess said.

All eyes turned to her.

"What do you mean nope?" Raphael asked accusingly, taking the words out of Ethan's mouth.

Jess ignored Raph and turned to Ethan, "I told you, I'm going in to get Mako. I'm not staying out here."

"Your more nuts that Mikey!" Raph said.

Jess turned to face Raph. "I wanna do this Raph."

For the first time in Ethan's life he saw Raph put his hands up in surrender. "You do you."

Ethan sighed, "Fine."

Jess gave a final nod and then swung down from their perch to the ground, balancing on stairwells to soften her landing until she got to the street. "Why do I even try sometimes." Ethan said quietly to himself.

"You should ask Leo. You guys can swap stories." Donnie said enthusiastically with an innocent grin. Ethan chuckled more for Donnie than for himself.

Jess slipped through the crack after Casey, Kaela, and April.

"You guys seem to fight a lot." Mikey noted, flinging his nun-chucks under his armpits and back out again casually.

"Mm." Ethan replied. "I love her to death, but boy love is complicated sometimes."

"Well, that's more than Raph would admit." Donnie said patting Ethan's furry red shoulder. "I'd say we better move, but you are temporary leader right now."

Ethan nodded. "Let's go."

Relieved that the padding on his feet was a strong as the soles of the shoes he once wore, Ethan tore down the side of the brick wall and flung himself off the stairwell over to Winter's Corp wall, flinging out his naginata as he went and spinning it between his fingers as he landed on the white stone, his nails digging into the top to keep him from falling. He could hear the turtles moving behind him.

"Wow."

Just over the wall was a huge, lush garden. It was still green despite the oncoming winter months that were just around the corner. "I would dare say that Winter's has more lucre than he knows how to throw." Donnie said sarcastically, peeking over the wall next to Ethan.

"What's Lucker?" Mikey asked.

"Shh." Ethan whispered.

His naginata in his paw he clutched tighter to him as he watched the four shadows move quickly through the bushes towards the main doors, one had a tail trailing behind them. No guards could be seen at least from this vantage point. "Let's move forward." Lunging up onto the edge of the wall, the turtles following close behind the group began to run parallel to the group going towards the front door. The wind was cold on Ethan's face and the fur bristled up to accommodate the oncoming waves of air. A few moments later the tale-tell glow of blue appeared up at the corner of the door. April was moving.

"That crystal is incredible." He heard Donnie whisper behind him.

Ethan halted them as the group slipped through the crack in the doors and then promptly, the doors quietly slid shut again, leaving Winter's Corp grounds silent. (Or as silent as New York could get.) "That almost went too smoothly." Raph commented, spinning his sais between his fingers. He had a frown on his face that Ethan understood.

"Maybe our luck is finally turning around!" Mikey said.

 _SLAM!_

The wall rocked like an earthquake had shook it at the roots and Ethan spun, snatching at the edge of the wall as he tumbled over the side. His nails scratched into the cement and he plummeted to the ground, bouncing off the grass and landing back up onto his feet.

Two dark shadows towered over him and Ethan quickly spun his naginata in his paw, positioning it in ready fight stance. Raph, Mikey, and Donnie landed behind him, weapons poised in a typical _yonnin Hamato_ form.

The two mutants were familiar.

"Well, look who it is." One was an ox, billowing steam from his nose, his ears perking up and his huge muscles tightening. Clasped in his monster-sized paws was a huge mace, jutting spikes of every kind. Next to him was a frighteningly thin teen – bat eyes twitching towards them, red eyes flashing and fangs showing as wings draped behind him like a cape.

"I knew I heard someone." The ox said to his bat-friend.

"You know these guys?" Donnie asked.

Ethan shrugged, "They are Mako's old friends. Shredder messed them up."

"What, you don't remember our names?" The bat hissed past his gleaming, pearly white daggers.

"Nope."

"Oo! Oo! I got this!" Mikey snapped quickly, moving out of his stance. "Buller and Fiendwing!" He winked to nobody in particular. "That's got some sparkle to it."

"Bebop and Rocksteady were a bit more clever." Donnie offered, his bo staff out and ready, but his eyes on his younger brother.

"Buller and Fiendwing sound awesome, don't deny it, bro."

"Can we get the butt kicking? I've been waiting for this all day." Raph hissed.

"Let me drain at least one of them dry!" Fiendwing hissed.

"GET 'EM!" Buller bowed his head and rushed forward, mace ready to pound the four into the fresh and expensive dirt of the Winter's garden.


	6. Winter is Coming - Part 3

Episode 19: Winter is Coming – Part 3

The inside of Winter's Corp was like a glowing golden gem. "Wow." Jess said as she stepped her white padded feet onto the marble hallway of an enormous atrium. "This is incredible." Although she whispered, her voice called back to her in an echo over and over again. Veins of blacks and whites danced across the floor in the golden light of overly extravagant modern lamps that hung from the walls. Pedestals filled the hallway, decorated with bleached skulls of ancient, extinct animals, gem stones, ancient statues of long dead kings and pharaohs and strange rock formations that jutted in odd directions with hieroglyphics covering their sides.

"Where do you think they would be keeping the mutants?" Casey lifted the skull mask from off his face to look around. April closed her eyes, grasping the Aeon crystal, pale blue leaking through her fingers like mist.

As Jess stepped forward, fingering the handle on her kama a voice echoed around her, lifting the white fur on her shoulders and neck. _Where are you, Mako? Where are you?_

Jess whirled around to face April. Her eyes were still closed. "Did you say that?"

April's eyes snapped open as she turned to Jess. "What?" She asked.

Jess blinked.

"You were whispering about Mako."

"You could hear me?" April asked.

"Listen, this is fun and all, but I have a feeling that if we stand in the middle of this giant hallway that we are going to be caught." Casey flipped his mask back down nervously.

Jess quickly shut her mouth and April followed suit, her eyelids sliding back down as she grasped the alien stone. Jess listened carefully, but this time, she didn't hear anything at all, save her own breathing which was distinctly loud in the silence.

She didn't have to wait long before April opened her eyes and while giving Kaela and questioning look said, "Follow me."

Kaela quickly caught up to Jess' side as they ran down the long marble hallways. "Are you sure you're okay?" She asked, her yellow bandanna flapping behind her as they sprinted down long huge hallways. They were like chasms in a mountain, a lofty glass ceiling above them.

"I'm fine…I think."

They reached a set of marble steps that led to the next floor and April skidded to a halt at the landing and looked up into the dark of the second floor. "Please tell me there's an elevator." Casey panted, on all fours, his hockey stick out and ready even though not a soul showed their face.

April turned to them, the blue of her crystal cast an odd alien shadow across her face. "Mako is on the top floor, in Winter's office."

"He keeps a scorpion mutant _in his office?"_ Kaela asked her ribbon dart going limp in her hand.

"There _had better_ be an elevator then." Casey exhaled again.

"I don't care which way we go," Jess said, "But let's get up there and get him out of this place."

April nodded with a smile. "I think there may be an elevator just up this hallway."

With a screech, Fiendwing leaped from the air and slammed into Mikey, throwing him backward further into the corner of the garden, snapping his teeth together as he tried to get a bite of turtle flesh. "Back off me, Fiendwing!"

Ethan ducked out of the way, separating from Raph's side as Buller burst between them, slamming his head into the side wall of Winter's corp. "I don't get it!" Donnie snapped, spinning his staff and lunging forward to assist Mikey against the overgrown bat. "What did we ever do to these guys?"

Naginata blade cutting air and barely missing Buller who had turned on Ethan again, Ethan turned to Donatello. "They were hypnotized or controlled or something by Shredder and his witch friend."

"Witch friend?" Raph asked, joining Ethan again, both of his katana blade poised for another attack. "I've never seen a witch friend."

"'Cept for at the Halloween festival!" Mikey flung Fiendwing backward and he rocketed into the air, his huge membraned wings filtering moonlight down onto the battle.

"Enough talk!" Buller roared, reason and understanding gone from his eyes, coated over in milky white. "Now is the time for dying, not for talking!" he bowed his head down and slammed his powerful arms into the ground, steam billowing from his huge nostrils.

"Let's pin this guy down." Ethan hissed through his teeth, thrashing his tail behind him and spinning his naginata into ready position.

"Way ahead of you." Raph crossed his sais in front of him and glared at Buller who slammed himself forward, kicking up cold dirt, grass, and shrubbery behind him. Raph and Ethan skipped out of the way and with a holler from both of them, slammed their weapons into the front of his head and his bleached white horns, throwing Buller off his feet and slamming onto his back, denting the garden floor and billowing dust into their faces.

Not wanting to allow this to continue, Ethan lunged on top of Buller's huge chest and he slammed the blunt end of his naginata into his head. Buller went silent and his eyes rolled backward, his pink tongue hanging from the side of his mouth.

"Raph and Ethan, the new A – Team." Raph put his three green fingers up for a high five and Ethan grinned back at him.

Donnie, and Mikey dodged as Fiendwing dived at their heads again, throwing Mikey off his feet. "Get back here you black umbrella!" Donnie snapped, tightening his fingers around his bo staff.

"I _am_ here, turtle." Fiendwing slammed into Donatello, spinning through the air as he went, spit flying from his mouth as he yelled viciously at his enemy.

"Let's get that bat!" Raph said, already running towards his brothers.

Ethan was right behind.

April had been right about two things. The first was that there was an actual elevator down the hallway and that it led all the way to the top. The second thing was that Mako was in Winter's office. Jessica knew this before they even got down the huge gold platted hallway.

How she actually knew was unpleasant.

Screaming.

Mako's voice echoed down the hallway towards them and Jessica paused for only a moment before running, shoving others out of the way. "Jessica!" Kaela snapped, following after her sister. "Don't just barge in there!"

Ignoring her sister, wanting to end whatever torment Mako was going through, Jessica slammed her foot into the huge metal plated doors and they burst open to admit her into a huge room made mostly out of glass. Behind a huge mahogany desk that looked like it had been polished non-stop since it had been placed in the office was Mako. He was on all fours, sweat pouring down his forehead, his arms drenched, flattening his hair. His face was turned away from the guests and he didn't turn to greet them. Jessica vaulted over the desk and landed next to Mako. She hesitated, not sure if she should touch him or not. His shoulders were shaking violently and his breathing came out in labored huffs. "Mako." She said quietly, trying not to startle him. "Mako, I'm here."

He didn't turn to look at Jess, but gazed out of the glass. Words began to form and Jess could feel Kaela right behind her and hear her fingers on the mahogany desk. "Get…out…of….my…head." Each word came out like they forced their way through his body.

"What?"

A laugh answered Jess' question. It was one familiar to her.

Kaela and Jess both turned to look up at the second floor balcony that hung over the room, flanked by rows of book shelves and a modern, glassy spiral staircase that led to the platform that Mako crouched on.

"You." Kaela hissed.

Kitsune – Shredder's witch watched from the balcony, her kimono glimmering with black and golden sakura petals, her sleeve hiding her mouth as she laughed. Her long, beautiful black hair swept down to the floor like a charcoal waterfall. "I hoped to see more cute children tonight." Kitsune simpered, looking directly at Jess and Kaela, ignoring Casey and April. "I see my two friends didn't dispatch you outside."

"Yeah! Our other friends are taking care of those goons." Casey snapped up at her, his voice muffled by his mask that was again over his face, his hockey stick at the ready like he was about to begin a match on the ice.

Kitsune didn't flinch.

"Well, if that's the case, then it looks like I only have one little boy to help me out now." Her eyes rested on Mako and Jess glared and put her hand on Mako's shaking shoulder.

"Do anything to him again witch and I'll rip you apart."

Kitsune's smile began to vanish, "Who taught you such manners? Certainly not I."

Jess spluttered, not sure how to reply.

"What is that supposed to mean?" she finally managed to get out.

"Silly child. That is something for you and your brother and sister to discover in due time. If you live that long, that is." The witches hair swept across the smooth glassy floor as she placed her white, delicate hands on the banister, the nails as clean as diamonds. " _Mako, kareda wo koroshinasai._ "

The moment the silky words breezed through the air like a lullaby Mako's back lurched and he turned. Jess caught his eye and knew immediately what was coming. "Move!" She hollered. April and Casey backed up immediately and Kaela and Jess flipped out of the way just as Mako's huge venom tipped black scorpion tail slammed into the floor where they had been standing, leaving webbed cracks through the marble. "Stop!" Jess yelled, but not to Mako. Her eyes were on Kitsune who smiled down on her.

"Show me how much you've grown, little girl." She simpered.

Mako stood back up on his two feet, his hands twisting into jagged claws tipped with purple spirals, his eyes going black, his teeth gritting together.

"Wicked!" Casey hollered as Mako advanced on them, his reflection appearing in every window making him look like he was everywhere all at once.

April thrashed her hand, revealing her battle fan and she turned to Kaela and Jess, her other hand grasping the glowing necklace. "We will take care of him. You take down that witch."

"I'm not leaving him." Jess snapped back.

There wasn't a second longer for talking as Mako's tail slammed again into the marble floor, throwing rubble in every direction, polished marble glancing in the light. "All of you must die." Mako hissed, black leaking through his teeth.

"I'll end this, Mako." Jess burst forward, throwing herself out of the way of another strike as April's fan struck one of his pincers away from her and a hockey stick slammed the other out of the way. Jess slammed her body into him and the two barreled over to the windows.

Mako's back slammed into the glass and a web of cracks sprung up the side of the window. He squirmed but Jess kept her white furred arms across his chest, forcing him to the floor.

Kaela had sprung up, ignoring the golden spiral staircase and instead wrapping her ribbon around the banister and throwing herself with the momentum up over the railing and amongst the bookshelves. Just as she spun on her foot, ribbon dart slamming the ground, Kitsune was gone and the dart hit the empty floor with a sharp _ping!_

Mako's squirming almost immediately calmed and his body went cold and limp, sweat dripping down his forehead as his spiny tail and pincers shrunk back and vanished, leaving the teen purple dragon as normal looking as any other ill person. "Kitsune is gone." Kaela said, looking down at her sister, April, and Casey.

"Ah man," Casey slapped his wooden stick onto one of the statues nearby that showcased a bleached white saber tooth skull. "That was way too fast."

Jess grabbed Mako under the arm. His eyes had already slid behind the lids and although he looked white as the skull behind her, he was breathing. "We need to bring him back to the lair." Just as Casey and April helped her pick Casey up, red stained the room in neon light and an alarm went off.

"That's not good." Kaela said turning to look up at the glowing light. "Let's move."

When the alarm went off, Ethan knew that the battle was over. Fiendwing hissed and burst into the air, vanishing into the night and leaving the turtles and Ethan behind. Buller remained unmoving on the lawn of Winter's corp. "We better head out – now!" Mikey shouted. "Unless you dudes wanna spend the rest of your life in cages."

"We aren't leaving without Jess and Kaela." Ethan said.

"Or April." Donnie added.

"Or Casey." Raph said.

They didn't have to wait long because that very moment the doors burst open and their friends appeared in the entrance, Mako slung between them. Ethan ran, his tail flying behind him and helped them. "That seemed too easy." Ethan said, although he knew nothing of what they had gone through. It couldn't have taken more than ten minutes.

"Kitsune was here." Kaela said giving Ethan a grim look as she brushed her hair behind her again. "She said something that I think you should hear." Ethan gave her a look back and then the group vanished from Winter's corp garden and into the dark streets of New York.


	7. All's Fair in Love and War - Part 1

Episode 20: All's Fair in Love and War – Part 1

For the past week loud noises had echoed through the lair and both Kaela and Donnie had hardly been seen save for at meals. Snow had fallen above in large white sheets that made getting out of the manhole not only more difficult, but incredibly undesirable. As February moved through the first week and a half, the temperatures in New York had dropped to a solid -5 degrees. The turtles, Ethan, Kaela, and Jess had holed up in the lair and hadn't left.

The television light dashed across the floor of the lair, but nothing good was on and Raphael sat on the couch with Chompy, his fire breathing turtle from space, dead panned and giving each channel only a second or two before pressing the button on the black remote again. Mikey sat on his carapaced stomach and moved his legs back and forth behind him, Ice Cream Kitty sitting in a bowl next to him. "What about this show, Raph?" He would say on occasion before without receiving an answer, the channel would flicker to the next, but Mikey didn't complain, a wool blanket over him.

Leonardo had spent a large amount of time in the dojo, sometimes pacing since Donnie had banished him from the lab while he and Kaela worked diligently. Ethan couldn't stand to watch Leo – knowing that he was thinking about Karai who still lay quiet in Donnie's lab, now next to Mako who likewise lay quietly there. For that reason, he had holed himself up in one of the bedrooms with Jess who equally had been banned from entering the lab while Donnie worked.

"Interesting that _Kaela_ is allowed in." Jess said, tossing a tennis ball up in the air with her black clawed hand and then catching it again. "Think Donnie's moved on from April to her?"

Ethan could tell that she was just trying to distract their thoughts – but that was okay with him. "Not a chance." Ethan said. He had watched Donnie from the moment they had burst from space follow April around like a lost puppy, hanging on every one of her words like he would fall to his death if he didn't. The sideways glares at Casey were more obvious that probably Donnie meant for them to be. "Kaela's always seemed to like her science classes. I'm sure she is just trying to help and frankly, she is the only one who probably wouldn't get in the way." He could see Karai lying on the table, her eyes shut still in his mind and it made him feel a twisting in his insides that made him sick.

"Hey guys!" Mikey yelled from the living room.

The tennis ball crashed down on Jess' face from surprise and she yelped, holding her black nosed snout, sitting up and clenching her sharp teeth. "Mikey!" She hissed as Ethan laughed. The two walked out of the bedroom, closing the door behind them to see Mikey had jumped up to his feet. The TV channels were no longer changing and instead, Raphael's hand was in his face, a glare peering through the cracks of his fingers.

Clutched in Mikey's hand was his phone, his calendar pulled up and he showed it from across the lair, although it was too far away for Jess or Ethan to see what he was pointing to. Mikey made that clear: "Tomorrow is Valentine's Day!" he cried.

"Who cares." Raph exhaled, rolling his eyes and his whole head with it bitterly. "Valentines is a stupid holiday anyway."

Ethan couldn't agree with Raphael more, but in the recesses of his mind, only a single name kept popping up that made his face feel hot through the fur. "We need to party!" Mikey cried. "We haven't been out of the lair all day! We can go get a pizza!"

"We do that everyday anyway," Jess said, folding her arms across her chest, crumpling the t-shirt she was wearing. "Why would that make it any more special?"

"Don't underestimate the love that comes from a delicious pizza." Mikey said with a grin and a wink.

In the lab, Kaela was sorting through a series of colored liquids, each of them contained in a glass jar sealed tightly. The labels were written in Donnie's scrawl: _Acetone, Ethyl Ether, Hydrochloric Acid._ Purples, blues, red, greens. She moved the beakers onto a table for Donnie who was sorting through them. But Kaela could tell he was distracted all day long.

On a cool table near the frozen mutagen ooze in the front of the huge lab Karai lay there. She was breathing slowly and now a look of peace had passed across her face. A tube ran through her arm giving her much needed nutrients. Donnie had been saying for the last few days that she was going to wake up any day. Next to her was Mako who was not so well off. Sweat still beaded on his forehead and his face was often screwed up as he slept, pain breaking through each of his features as visible as an open wound would be. Kaela placed one of the beakers next to Donnie who started and quickly changed tabs on his computer before what was on the screen could be seen. "So…" Kaela said, "Do you think Mako is going to be okay?"

"Huh?" Donnie blank faced her and then turned to look at Mako. "Oh, right. Mako. It's odd. Karai's trauma from the brain worm is something that seems to drain over time. I would say she will be back to normal in no time. But Mako's is different. There's nothing chemical in him. No mutagen, or brain control serum or anything. It seems a lot deeper. Something not biological at all." Donnie looked at the purple dragon teen with a frown on his face. Kaela followed his eyes and then quickly got a wet washcloth and placed it on Mako's forehead.

"It was Kitsune." Kaela said. "I think she has some sort of . . . mind control magic or something."

"Odd." Donnie said, looking back to his computer. Kaela wasn't sure he had listened to word that she had said, but for some reason she smiled and turned back to Mako.

Finally, willing to venture on a limb she turned back to him. "Whatcha working on?"

"W-what? Huh? Nothing!"

Kaela laughed and then stepped up to his computer. Before he managed to switch it, she saw blueprints and the long white lines of a grid as well as what looked like the shape of a heart. Donnie gave her cheesy, guilty grin, not quite meeting her eyes. Kaela felt a sharp sting inside and knew exactly what it meant. It was the same feeling she got when she had a crush on Trent, a kid from sophomore year. Every time she was around him, she smiled and laughed and felt warm inside. When he was with other girls, she would continue to act the same, but there was something hurting inside. Finally, Trent had transferred schools and she hadn't seen him since. It would have been funny to look back on that memory if it didn't feel like it was happening all over again now. She hid the feeling with a return smile. "Does this have something to do with Valentine's Day?" she asked.

Donnie sighed and relented and pulled up the blueprints. Kaela leaned in, her head only inches from Donatello's. The heart was glossy and from Donnie's notes on the side it looked like it was to be made of silver alloy. Engraved in gold was the words: _Be Mine._ A silvery chain made it clear that it was a necklace. On the back was a symbol of a turtle shell. Half of Kaela wanted to laugh, another blush. "Wow." She finally managed to say, but the word cut her mouth as it left it. "That's cool."

"Do you think so?" Donnie smiled at his computer screen. "Do you think she'll like it?"

"Y-yeah." Kaela said. Something else was welling up inside her. It almost felt like the pain was transforming into something that rushed through her body like an adrenaline rush. "I think it is awesome, Donnie."

As if it had been timed, the sound of the rotating subway gates echoed outside the lab and the sound of April's voice could be heard. "Guys! Guys!"

Donnie flew from his chair as if someone had yelled "Fire!"

Kaela followed close behind him through the lab doors and into the living room. Raphael, Mikey, Ethan and Jess were all looking at April who had just dropped her bag by the couch, a letter in her hand and a grin on her face. "I got in! I got in!" She proclaimed. The letter unfurled and everyone moved in close to glance at what she was talking about. The beautiful letter head revealed that it was a letter from Winter's Corp. A golden seal and a signature from Winters himself confirmed that she was accepted to the South American Archeology Internship for the summer.

"Isn't it awesome? I am so excited!" April cried. She folded the letter back up and stuffed it into the envelope. All eyes blinked towards Donnie.

"That's great, April." He couldn't hide his crestfallen feelings well at all.

April obviously either heard it in his voice or saw it in his face because she quickly said, "Don't worry! It's only the summer! I'll be back for Senior year. And I won't be leaving for a few months." Donnie gave her a small smile and then backed towards his lab again.

That feeling had appeared in Kaela's body again. It began as the pain that she had felt when she had seen Trent move, but now it was flowing, moving through her insides like a tidal wave. As if holding up a dam to stop the feelings, she placed a wall up by clenching her fist at her side. But the dam was breaking and she felt warmth in her hands.

Donnie suddenly paused and turned. His face seemed blank. "What's up with you?" Raphael had turned to look over at his brother and gave him a confused look. Kaela didn't like that face Donnie had. It reminded her of the face Mako had under the influence of Kitsune.

"Donnie?" April's concern was something different. Something deeper than the love Raph had for his brother.

The dam broke and the flood gates opened. Kaela turned away from April to Donnie, her hands now hot enough to alarm her. She looked down at her fingers and they seemed to glow with unnatural light.

Donnie opened his mouth and shouted, "Kaela, I'm in love with you!"

Silence.

The letter dropped out of April's hand.

Only the sound of the television and Crognard could be heard in the background.

Donatello closed his mouth and looked confused and sick, like he had spontaneously vomited up his breakfast. He cleared his throat and opened his mouth to say something, but nothing came out. Kaela felt her hands grow ice cold, as well as all of her insides that were freezing and squirming like she had eaten Ice Cream Kitty whole.

" _What?_ " Raphael said.

"I-I don't know why I said that!" Donnie said desperately like he was grasping for thin air and he immediately turned to April who looked back at him with a mouth open in shock. She slowly closed it. "Okay then." She finally managed to get out.

The room remained silent. Kaela couldn't believe what was happening. _Did I make him say that?_ She thought, bewildered. She turned her gaze to Ethan and Jess who stared right back at her without saying a word. "Well," Mikey finally said breaking the silent with a nervous chuckle, moving his weight from foot to foot. "I am going to go uptown to get a Valentine pizza. Or two. Or five." She snatched up his yellow skateboard and made his way to the exit. April was still standing stunned, but her eyes no longer met Donnie's but instead brushed down to her shoes.

"I'm comin' too." Raphael joined quickly behind his brother.

"A-and me." Jess added.

Ethan turned to stare at her in a very _Shouldn't you be here supporting your sister from whatever the heck just happened,_ but Jess ignored it and followed next to Raphael. April, Ethan, Kaela, and Donnie stood alone in the living room, the letter still on the floor. "A-april, I honestly don't know why I said that!" Donnie moved right past Kaela.

April stooped to the ground and picked up the letter, her voice steady, her expression solid. "Hey, you don't have to explain your feelings to me, Donnie." She said. "I mean, that was a very weird way to come out with it. I would have suggested telling her in private."

Kaela wasn't sure that she liked how she was being talked about like she wasn't there. "Donnie," She said quietly, turning to April and Donatello. The two immediately whirled around to look at her like they were about to be charged by some kind of wild animal. "I—." Kaela tried to say something like: _I think I somehow forced you to say that with some kind of evil supernatural ability_ or _I think I dumped a bucket of feelings on your emotions by accident._ None of that seemed to make sense. April quietly tucked the letter back into the envelope, but she waited for nothing. Kaela closed her mouth.

"Kaela."

She turned to her brother.

"Let's go talk."

Feeling like a child being disciplined, she followed reluctantly after Ethan. If it wasn't so agonizingly awkward in the living room, she wouldn't have done it. But just anything was an escape from this kind of agony. All eyes were on her.

The two walked into Donnie's lab, but the purple turtle didn't complain in the least. Kaela couldn't help but feel it was because he was just as happy for her to be gone.


	8. All's Fair in Love and War - Part 2

Episode 20: All's Fair in Love and War – Part 2

Ethan wasn't how to start this conversation. He turned to Kaela and slowly closed the doors to Donatello's lab. With his red furred fingers he pulled the white bandanna from around his eyes until they hung like loose noodles on his shoulders. Kaela was holding her arm around her middle, like she was trying to comfort herself. Something was in her eyes that Ethan hadn't seen there before. Save more maybe when she was confronted by Kraang Sub-Prime on the docks several months ago. "What the heck was that?" Ethan finally said quietly.

Kaela shook her head slowly, looking around like there was some chemical in the lab that would explain it to her, or cure the conversation of some sickness. "Ethan, I frankly have no clue. I really don't know what's going on." Ethan put his hands into his pockets and looked down at his clawed feet, searching for sense it the things that had happened. "It was like…" Kaela ventured again, "Like I had somehow managed to press my feelings out of my body and onto somebody else."

The two siblings met eyes. "So, you have feelings for Donnie?"

Kaela groaned and placed her hand over her face. "I dunno." She said. "I guess." Her hand slid down her face. "It's the same feeling that I had when I was healing you after Karai poisoned you." Ethan's eyes slowly slid over to Karai who still was lying on the table, breathing slowly. He looked away when he noticed that Kaela had seen him watching her. A small smile played on her lips. "Good to know that I'm not the only one dealing with this kind of stuff."

"Shut up."

There were quiet voices that wafted into the lab, but they were inaudible even to Ethan's keen ears. His tail twitched and he turned to see that Donnie was walking towards them and from April's expression, it didn't look like their expression had been fun.

"We'd better get out of his way." Ethan said, his ears flattening to his head. He was getting pretty sick of the drama.

Mikey, Raph, and Jess jumped over one of the ledges of the roof and Jess almost lost her footing on the slick ice that had piled up on the lip of the buildings. Her claws helped catch her and she left scratches in the cement of the buildings behind her and deep groves in the snow. Mikey was humming as he led the group towards Antonio's pizza. He had ordered something very specific on the phone as they ran – "A pizza in the shape of a heart!" Mikey had yelled with a grin on his face as he ran, the tiny tails of his orange bandanna whipping in the biting wind like little antennas. His big blue eyes lit up when he talked about pizza.

"I don't care what shape the pizza's in, as long as we get one soon." Raph had said as a side comment to Jess. She had laughed and used it as an excuse to nudge him with her elbow. There was something about being around Raph that she liked. His fighting style was like her own – his comments often felt like things she wanted to say, especially when he was talking to Mikey. Sometimes he felt more like a sibling than his siblings. Although she didn't like to think of her feelings for him as something so familial.

They turned a corner towards Antonio's pizza. Cars and people were sparse as it was both a Saturday and freezing cold out. The streets were mostly deserted. A hot pizza was staring to make Jess' stomach grumble, although she didn't like pepperoni. "Guys! Our Valentine's Day Party is going to be banging!" Mikey called back.

"Valentines is such a stupid holiday, Mikey. It shouldn't even be on the calendar." Raph shouted up at his brother. He was keeping up without difficulty, his arms behind him. Jess would have struggled keeping up if it wasn't for her artic fox form.

"Are you just bitter about Mona, still?" Mikey asked.

"Shut up Mikey! This has nothing to do with her!" The way Raph said it, Jess knew that he was lying. Whenever his fire burst and popped it was because someone had thrown gasoline into it.

"Mona?" Jess asked.

"Raph's _girlfriend!_ " Mikey simpered looking back as he flung himself, doing a cartwheel onto the next roof.

"Let it go Mikey, _now._ " Raph flipped behind Mikey, nearly hitting him with his balled fist.

 _Girlfriend?_ Jess wondered as she landed with a lack of grace, nearly tripping up on her thoughts and falling into the snow. _Don't get mad Jess. You have Mako anyway. This shouldn't bug you._

She stood up. "Where did you—."

"Wait. Did you hear something?" Mikey paused, skateboard slung on the back of his turtle shell, forgotten from the snow.

Jess perked her white ears up.

Now that he said something, there was a noise on the wind – something different than the engine of cars or the quiet chatter of the few people who were braving the freezing cold. It almost sounded like a cackle.

A shadow passed their face.

Jess, Raph, and Mikey spun around and Jess quickly pulled her kama's from her belt. She turned just in time.

With a blast of black against the white snow and a flutter of bats, a tall figure appeared, garbed in tattered black cloaks, their head hiding behind a large pointed hat. The figure had on black wedges, their midnight colored hair draping behind their slim back.

"Wow." Raphael whispered.

The figure slowly looked up showing lips painted purple. "Let's play a game." She slowly stepped forward, a smile playing on her lips. "Give me one of your weapons, or I'll take something precious. Your shells."

Raphael stepped forward, his red bandanna like a fire amongst falling white snowflakes. "Listen, we don't know who you are sister, but it's time to—." Before he finished his sentence she spun on one of her black heels and the second connected with the side of Raphael.

Before Jess or Mikey could make a move she had thrown flash powder to the ground and had vanished. Another flash and Jess felt her kama spin out of her hand as she fell into the snow. "My name is Shinigami. Do you know what my name means?"

 _God of Death._ Jess thought snatching at her kama, her fur keeping out most of the cold from the glittering white around her. "Alright, I've had enough of this crap." Jess jumped forward and slashed at Shinigami with what her father had taught her – a triple blitz, the blades spinning out from left, then right, then a final blow on the head. Shinigami dodged each with agility, but Raphael had gotten back to his feet. With a spin of his sai and a yell, the bottom of the handle and his fist connected with her side.

Shinigami fell backward, black blending into the white as her hat came off, billowing snow like crushed diamonds in every direction. "I can't believe you'd hit a lady." She hissed. Her face was pale, her eyes a deep, unnatural gold. She slowly stood back up and smiled slyly at Raphael who had prepared for another attack. "So you really are living, breathing kappa. So cute." She spun a golden chain from her black robes. Each gold bead sparkled on the chain, polished and winking like gemstones.

"Let's take her down." Jess crouched down with Raphael, switching her position on her kama's.

"Woah."

Jess turned to look at Mikey.

It was the wrong move.

Shinigami's cord flew through the air, binding Mikey's arms to his side and she directed him from side to side with a quick effective tug, throwing Jess and Raph off balance. Mikey chuckled as she then gripped it tighter, grinning all the while and pulled hard enough to throw Mikey off his feet and the bottom of her black wedges connected with his forehead. Mikey hit the ground with an odd sigh. Jess quickly regained her balance, gritting her teeth. "Alright witch, we're done with this!"

Shinigami cackled. "We'll see about that, little doggie." She flited her golden chain around. Now Jess could see the weapon more clearly. A glittering blade like a golden moon hung from one end while the other was a large round orb about the size of Jess' fist.

"A kusarigama." Raphael said through gritted teeth. "We can take her together."

Jess' smiled aggressively in Shinigami's direction. "I like that."

"Guys, wait!" Mikey was getting back to his feet, but his eyes were paused on the golden orb in front of him. Shinigami spun the orb, hanging it in front of her face like a pocket watch. In the center was a glowing eye, not unlike a cats own. She chuckled darkly and let the orb slowly pendulum from left to right.

"Mikey! Get out of the way." Jess cried. "Or attack her or – do something!"

"Forget it, let's just go for her." Raph burst forward.

Suddenly Mikey turned, but he didn't get out of the way. His eyes were almost entirely white and his nun-chuck flew out with deadly precision, striking Raphael directly on the forehead.

Raphael only gave one shout before he fell backward into the snow. Before Jess could react, Mikey flung himself forward and hit Raphael again, square on the head and Raphael's eyes closed.

"Are you freakin' serious." Jess sighed. "How many of you bad guys have the power to control people, because honestly this is starting to get really annoying." She spun her kama's between her fingers.

 _This feels weird! Make it stop!_

Jess could suddenly hear a voice that sounded like Mikey, but his lips hadn't moved. He just stared blankly in battle ready looking at Jess, nun-chucks ready to go.

 _Mikey?_ Jess thought quietly to herself, narrowing her eyes on him as if she was trying to look at something discreet on his face.

 _Jess?_

Jess' mouth dropped open. "Can you hear me?" she said aloud.

"Why yes, little girl." Shinigami simpered. "Now turtle boy, take care of her for me."

Mikey jumped over Raphael's body in one fluid motion and Jess moved out of the way, but by the time she had dodged, Shinigami had flanked her other side. She felt the cool metal of her golden moon on the back of her shoulder blades and suddenly the snow was rushing up to meet her.

Donnie worked quietly in the lab. Kaela had spent most of her time in the dojo away from everyone else. Ethan had, at Donnie's permission, sat quietly near Karai and Mako. Karai's color had started to come back into her cheeks and her breathing had become even. Donnie tapped away at his computer with a frown on his face, his chin propped on his hand. He would occasionally give Ethan a look like he had somehow been partially responsible for what Kaela had made him say. Donnie pressed a few buttons and pulled out a mold that looked suspiciously like a heart and began to poor metal into it.

He turned his attention back onto Karai and had an odd itch in his fingers to place them on her hand and clasp them, but feeling that it would be melodramatic, he decided not to. Leonardo appeared at the door and walked into the lab. "Hey." He said looking at Donnie and then Ethan. An odd coolness entered the room that made Ethan's tail twitch and made him feel all shifty. "I heard what happened." He said.

"Can we not talk about it. It's weird." Donnie said, sealing his mold and returning to his computer.

Leo had a smile playing on his lips. "Kay."

"Honestly," Ethan said, reaching out and placing his hand near Karai's own, but looking at Donnie. "It was a total accident. I think there was something else going on that we don't know about. What you said doesn't really mean anything."

"Yeah, but now April is being all weird." Donnie moaned, getting a chemical from his desk and dabbing some of the blue liquid onto a cloth. He stood up from the desk and made his way over to Karai and put the cloth on her forehead for a moment or two and then picked wiped at her temples and brought the cloth back over to his table.

Leo had noticed Ethan's hand and looked up at him. "Hey, I can keep watch over Karai now! You can rest."

"No, it's okay, I can stay." Ethan said, drawing himself closer to Karai's side.

"Here we go." Donnie groaned and he wiped up some of the liquid and placed it on a pallet to look at. "If you guys aren't going to kill each other over Karai, you would be happy to know that her dendrites have been balanced and her prefrontal cortex has been pruned of anything that the brain worm did to her. She's just asleep. She will wake up when she has sufficient energy."

"Good." Leo said and then gave one look at Ethan and then sat down in the chair Ethan had been sitting in.

Ethan felt a lump grow in his throat, but he swallowed and with a final nod and trying to keep his fur from bristling in anger he walked out of the lab, Leo and Donnie's eyes on the back of his head.


	9. All's Fair in Love and War - Part 3

Episode 20: All's Fair in Love and War – Part 3

Ethan hardly slept all night. Instead, he spent his time lying awake staring at the ceiling. He was waiting or Mikey, Jess, and Raph to return home for the night. They hadn't come back in the last few hours and it made him worry that Shredder had found them. But he was worried about something more – something that made him clench his claws around his dark sheets more and roll over and over and over again.

 _Karai had reacted just by hearing Leo's name! Any day now she will wake up and they can go on their stupid, perfect relationship that they had, and I get to sit and torture myself by watching it all._ The bitterness in his own thoughts surprised him and he knew that Master Hamato would be upset if he knew how Ethan felt. He rolled to his side and tried to tuck the blankets against his hot fur underneath his arm to bundle up more. Lying on his side mad his whiskers uncomfortable as they bent against the pillow.

He glared at the dark of the room as if it had insulted him. The war continued in his mind between memories of their first kiss in the sewers and his missing friends and sister. _The sewer isn't too romantic, but still . . . I wonder when those guys will get back? Karai probably won't even remember me when she wakes up. How long does it take for Mikey to grab a pizza?_

Eventually he started to drift in and out of sleep, never fully awake, but neither asleep either. Hazy images of Karai played across his mind, along with scenery of green mountains and crashing waves of the ocean. A bamboo built home with sliding screen doors on the edge of thick, emerald forest.

All of that came crashing down at the sound of banging. At first, in a dizzy, sleepy blur, Ethan pulled himself up, his fur feeling stiff on his arms and face, his whiskers popping immediately back into place and his ears perking up from the noise. He groaned.

The smell of metal was in the air.

Ethan snatched up his white bandanna and tied it around his eyes and stood up, adjusting it so he could see through the two eyeholes. The banging vanished as Ethan peeked his head through the doorframe of the lab.

Donnie had a pair of thick goggles on his eyes and had just set down a blow torch. He was holding up a glittering chain, a silver, polished heart glancing in the overhead lights and casting white and yellow specks across the cement floor from the sparkling gold.

Donnie started with a yell as he turned and saw Ethan watching him from the door. He fumbled the necklace but immediately caught it before it hit the ground. "Sorry, did I wake you up?" he asked nervously with a guilty smile, the necklace clasped between his fingers so it couldn't be seen.

"Yeah, but it's fine. I probably should be up."

Ethan could suddenly see Leonardo's form, his head on the table next to Karai's arm, quiet snoring coming from the corner. _He probably stayed up all night to sleep through that metal smashing._ Ethan thought.

"Then why are you glaring?"

Ethan started and quickly shook his head and forced a smile. "I'm good. Did Jess, Raph, and Mikey come back last night?"

"I didn't see them." Donnie had turned and placed the necklace that Ethan had seen clearly into a box and began wrapping it with white paper, red hearts speckled across it. Suddenly Ethan was relieved that Raphael wasn't here to see the gift Donatello had put together.

Not wanting to be in the lab anymore, Ethan shifted himself slowly over to the doorway, wanting to hold his naginata in his hands and feel the force of the blade against a target. If he didn't get it out of his system, he feared where that energy would end up.

"Hello?"

Apri's voice echoed down the hallway and Ethan ignored Donnie who nearly fell over himself onto the table. Ethan poked his head out from the lab to see that April had stepped in and slung her bag over onto the couch.

A door closed down the hallway.

Ethan winced, knowing that it was Kaela.

He wondered if she would ever let herself face to face to April again.

April had done her hair up into the usual yellow headband and her necklace sat around her neck as it always did, glowing against her yellow t-shirt. "Happy Valentines day!" April said with a smile, holding up a series of bright pink and red cards in her hands as she noticed Ethan. "Is anyone else here, Ethan?"

"I am!" Donnie practically flung himself through the doors, knocking Ethan to the ground. "Happy Var-Valentine's Day!" Each word came out with a serious amount of painful force from his throat that sounded like they cut all the way up from his lungs. He had a grin on his face that made Ethan want to facepalm.

Flipping his tail back out from behind him and rubbing his shoulder that Donnie had struck as he burst past him, Ethan stood back up. A loud snort from the lab clued him that Leo had just woken up. Ethan quickly stepped out of the lab, not wanting to confront him at all today from fear of what would happen. He walked over to the dojo doors and snatched up his naginata from where it had been resting on the awning and nearly stepped into the dojo under the shade of the large tree in the sewer when April cried after him, "Wait, Ethan! I have a card here for you to."

Forcing a smile, Ethan stepped back down the stairs and over to April, flipping himself up over the couch to save time. April smiled and stuck her hands out, offering him a pink card with hearts on it. Donnie was already clutching his like he had just been given a child to take care of.

Ethan flipped it open easily, careful not to let his claws cut the card up. _HAPPY VALENTINES DAY! THANKS FOR TAKING CARE OF THINGS WHILE WE WERE IN SPACE ;) – APRIL_

Ethan smiled and nodded, motioning the card into the air. "Thanks." He said. "Sorry, I didn't get you anything."

April shrugged. "It's okay!"

"I got you something!" Donnie said hastily.

April turned and Ethan paused, trying to figure out what her expression was.

"Oh?"

She almost sounded like Jess on a bad day.

Ethan made a quick nod and slowly inched his way back to the dojo.

Donnie had vanished over to the lab and was gone.

Ethan turned his back and walked back up the stairs to the dojo and then paused at what April said. "Hey, Mikey! Where's Jess and Raph?"

An answer didn't come.

Twisting his head back, he noticed Mikey standing at the entrance of the lair, his form a shadow from the light that blasted from the railway behind him. The second he saw him, he knew something was wrong and he turned back to Mikey. "What's wrong?" Ethan said quickly.

Mikey didn't move at all.

"Mikey?" Donnie had entered the room again, the present clutched in his hand.

 _Something's off._

Ethan spun his naginata into ready position.

As if he had told a joke, a girlish laugh echoed down the dark subways, reverberating off the walls and resting like fog into their living room. The other cards in April's hands fell to the floor and she whipped her fan out in a ready defense.

 _"Kawaii!"_

At first Ethan thought he was hearing Kitsune and dread gripped him, but then, a figure appeared next to Mikey, as if she had stood next to him the whole time. The first thing he noted was an enormous hat that reminded him of the ones he saw on the Halloween isle during the fall. A cloak was wrapped around her shoulders and went down to her knees like black bat wings. "A red panda and a little red bird." Her gold eyes glanced over Ethan and April, ignoring Donnie entirely. "How cute."

"Who the heck are you?" Donnie asked, stepping down the stairs. "Get away from April."

"I can take care of myself, Donnie." April retorted, her glare solidly on the witch.

"My name is Shinigami." The witch stated. "I'm here to take back Karai."

"You can't have her."

Leonardo had emerged from the lab, both of his katana at the ready.

Shinigami laughed coldly and then shrugged her slim shoulders, the cloak falling behind her shoulders and two glittering crescent blades appeared in her hands, attached by a long cord. "Little Kappa, take them out."

Mikey jumped from the shadows, his nun chucks spinning through the air.

"Valentine's Day sucks." Ethan groaned.

Jess was freezing. She opened her eyes and immediately felt her head throbbing behind her eyes like a drum beating in her head loudly. She could feel snow on her fur, glistening and felt freezing wind biting at her nose. Her kama's were lying on either side of her.

Groaning, she pulled her chest up from the snow, her shirt soaked through and stiff, the folds in it frozen where they were. Raphael was lying not far from her, face down in the snow. "Raph!" Jess stood and nearly lost consciousness again as a her headache burst like a thunderbolt in her head. She kept her feet, stumbling through the winter snow and fell on her knees at Raphael's side. She grabbed his arm and noted it was freezing cold. She shook him and rubbed up closer to him, blushing as she tried to use her to shield him from the cold. "Raph, wake up!"

Raphael groaned and turned his head. The moment he saw Jess he shrieked and backed away from her and then, remembering himself, he jumped to his feet. "Don't freak me out like that, Jess!"

"Sorry." Jess said, feeling her face grow hot despite the weather. "We should probably make our way back to the lair, I don't know how long we've been out here." She was feeling her whole body shake even with the fur. Her head throbbed as she got back to her feet.

Raphael didn't look in any better shape. He coughed and nodded, wincing.

"Here, we can stabilize each other." Jess put her arm around his shoulder, not wanting to make eye connection with him.

Raphael didn't reply, but didn't protest either and so the two slowly made their way through the snow and down the fire escape to the street below.

Mikey's fighting style felt strained, totally unaware of what was going on in his own head. April took the brunt of his attack and backed away. Ethan jumped over the sofa and slashed his flashing blade at Shinigami's head, but she slipped out of the way just in time and with a cackle slammed Ethan backward with the blunt edge of her crescent blade.

Falling backward, Ethan struck Donnie in the shoulder and he yelped as the present fell from his hands and dunked into the water of the sewer. "No!" Donnie shrieked, falling onto his stomach and grasping for it, but it had fallen out of his reach and sunk to the bottom of the sewer pipe.

Leo leaped forward but Mikey had disarmed and thrown April to the side and lunged at Leo, blocking him from Shinigami. "Mikey, get out of the way!" Leo snapped as he shoved Mikey backward.

"Something's wrong with him!" April said, standing. She snatched at her necklace and closed her eyes, reaching out her other hand towards Mikey.

"Bad girl!" Shinigami leaped forward and kicked April's shoulder like a dart and April gasped, falling to her side.

Ethan leaped back to his feet and ran for another attack at Shinigami. Kaela emerged from the hallway. "What the heck is happening?" She asked, clutching her ribbon dart in her hand.

"We're being attacked by one of Shredder's servants!" Ethan cried.

"And why is Donnie in the sewage?"

Ethan turned to see that Donnie had leaped into the water, shrieking again as the gift washed down the drain pipe. "No, no, no!"

"No clue."

"Back off witch!" April reached out to Shinigami and an invisible force threw the over large bat backwards.

"Little red bird." Shinigami hissed as she stood back up. She jumped, vanishing in a blast of red smoke and live bats that flew and shrieked around the room. Ethan slashed at the ones that dived at his head and rolled down the stairs, striking where he knew Shinigami would reappear, right next to April.

He guessed right.

Shinigami fell backward but then dodged Ethan's second strike and moved close range again, slamming him in the stomach with the golden orb at the end of her kusarigama chain. The air blew out of his mouth and nose and he fell to his feet. "How dare you take my friend." She lifted her weapon, the crescent blade ready for a strike to Ethan's neck.

Ethan only had time to gasp as she lunged at him.

"Shini, no!"

A blade appeared, seemingly from nowhere, and blocked the blow before it hit Ethan.

"Karai!"

Ethan heard Leo say it from across the room as Ethan looked up to see Karai was standing over him, blade out, her golden hair flowing into black and her eyes serious as she looked at the witch.

Their weapons were gone in a second and the two were suddenly embracing.

"Uh…." Ethan's mouth hung open.

April quickly stood and reached out her hand again, washing over the room in blue light.

Mikey groaned as the light vanished and fell to his knees, rolling his head dizzily at Leonardo's feet. "What happened, dudes?" he groaned.

"You were just trying to kill me." Leo said, sheathing his swords and folding his arms across his chest, aiming a glare at Mikey.

As soon as Mikey saw Shinigami and Karai embracing he jumped back up to his feet, his face red and he chuckled nervously. The two girls separated and smiled at each other.

Kaela made her way down the stairs. "I don't get it. Did I miss something?"

Ethan shook his head, "I don't get it either and I have been here the whole time."

Karai turned to the group. "Thank you for helping me." She said giving a formal bow tot hem. "Guys, this is Shini. She's my friend from Japan."

"I went to see if Shredder still had you captive," Shinigami said, "But I couldn't find you anywhere in his lair. But a big cat was talking about how you had been stolen in the sewers so I thought I would look for you."

"Karai, I'm so glad your back." Leo stepped forward and his hand touched the side of her forearm. She smiled back and then her eyes caught hold of Ethan.

Hoping that their kiss was forgotten with the brain worm, Ethan cleared his throat awkwardly and looked away.

"Thanks for helping me out, Ethan."

 _Dang it! She totally remembers!_

"So where are Raphael and Jess?" Kaela asked, looking around the lair as Donnie hopped out of the water, crestfallen and dripping all over the floor.

"Oh, the turtle and the artic fox?" Shinigami asked with a guilty frown. "I think I left them in the snow…"

"We're here!"

An echo came from the entrance and Raphael and Jess limped in, Raphael giving long hacking coughs as they walked. "Are you guys okay?" Ethan asked, running up to the two and helping Raph down onto the couch.

"Get away from her!" Raphael brandished his sai at Shinigami.

"Raphael, no! Shini's a friend. She just thought you guys had kidnapped me." Karai retorted immediately.

"Sorry for taking you down." Shini said cockily with a sly smile.

Raphael growled.

"All's forgiven!" Mikey said stepping up to them. "How about a hug of eternal reunion?" He opened his arms expectantly.

Karai raised an eyebrow.

"You're silly." Shini laughed. "I like you."

Mikey grinned.

Donnie walked up to April but she didn't seem to acknowledge him.

"Well, that explains everything." Ethan suddenly said with a quick look in Kaela's direction. "Shinigami must have been doing something to you Donnie to try and start contention in the team. That's why you said what you did."

Shinigami turned to look at Ethan with confusion but Ethan caught her eye and gave his head a quick, subtle shake, widening his eyes to signal to her not to say anything.

She frowned at him, but didn't say anything.

"Oh." April said. "That makes sense."

"Sorry April." Donnie said, "I made something for you but it got lost in the drain pipe."

"That's okay, Donnie. Happy Valentine's day!" She snatched up a box of chocolates that she had dropped and put into his hands and then gave him a quick hug that paralyzed him where he stood.

They all laughed together and Ethan made sure not to glance in Kaela's direction. He didn't want to know if she was being authentic in her happiness or not. This Valentine's day had had enough drama as it was. He couldn't help but notice that Jess and Raph were sitting awfully close to one another, both glaring still in Shinigami's direction.

"Well, Shini and I better get going." Karai said, moving towards the exit with her.

"Already?" Leo asked. "But you just woke up."

"I know. Thank you." Karai said again. "I need to figure some things out and Shini, I am so glad you're here. Will you help me?"

"Of course, senpai." She said, tipping her witch hat with a smile.

"We'll come back when we've figured some things out."

"Bye." Leonardo said quietly as the two vanished. Karai gave him one solid look back and then nodded to the others.

Ethan looked away as the two disappeared into the shadows.

"Well, all's well that ends well." Donnie said with a smile and nudging April's shoulder who smiled back at him.

"Yeah." Leonardo sounded distant as he said it.

The drainage pipe usually spat out nothing but a mixture of water and filth, but deep in the sewers not far from Shredder's lair, a damp white package popped out and drifted in a smooth, resting pool of blackish water. The red hearts had dripped with ink making them bleed across the paper in messy red veins.

A figure paused as they searched the sewers and turned. Lord Dregg emerged with two of his towering green Vree guards and he leaned down, placing his huge claws around the tiny package and he lifted it up to his four green eyes and grinned, his laugh echoing in the sewers as he turned away back towards Shredder's lair.


	10. The Sach's Transaction - Part 1

Episode 21: The Sach's Transaction – Part 1

When Sam first opened his eyes, he saw only darkness.

 _Am I blind?_

As if the thought was the key to a window of light, his eyes came into sharper focus than he had ever experienced before. In the corners of a wooden paneled room were tall candles of wax, melting slowly as tiny orange flames danced across the thin black wicks like they were trying to escape.

The next thing he experienced was intense pain in his shoulders, arms, his waist, his knees, his feet. He flexed his body and heard rustling. He looked down at himself. He was propped up on a table that was more erect than it was down against the floor. His body was bound to the table by large silver bonds.

That wasn't what made him gasp though.

It was the white feathers, speckled in black. They covered his arms so that his flesh was no longer visible. His fingers were scaly and pointed with black, sharp talons, like his feet. His clothes were tighter on him now, the feathers bursting out of the cuffs of his pants his sleeves, but they had been smoothed.

A shadow flickered from the corner of his eye and he looked back up, trying to fight back a feeling that burned in his insides and made him want to hide his face.

He wasn't alone in this room.

Shadows were moving and now coming into focus.

The one nearest to him was a wolf mutant with black fur. Despite her larger build, Sam immediately knew it was a woman by a striking beauty in her eyes and the way she held herself, although she couldn't be much older than him. Her arms were folded across her chest and her head was turned away, as if she were trying to keep her eyes as far from his as possible.

"Where am I?" He managed to get out, his voice sounded like a blade against leather, like he had to cough up dust. Other shapes were moving. A doctor nearby with glasses and black hair stepped aside, adjusted his lab coat and smiling smugly as another figure stepped out of the odd flickering shadows of the tiny candles.

The figure was robed his black scarfs and shawls. Every inch of him was covered in a sleek black armor that looked like it made out of charcoal black midnight. His face was covered by a mask with no mouth. Vine-like designs ran up it, but two eyes that were like blue lightning stared at him. "W-who are you?"

"My name is not important. My children call me Lord Nightshade." He motioned to the rest of the room. Other shadows were in the corner, but even Sam's new bird-like eyes couldn't spy them out. "Your name is Sam, is it not?" The way he spoke was so elegant.

"Ho-how do you know that?" Sam tried to stretch his mind back in time to remember what had happened to him – why he was here, and why he was a mutant. He could remember his friends . . . Ethan, Jess, and Kaela. Their images were hazy, but he remembered them – and a warehouse.

Lord Nightshade motioned to the wolf in the corner. "Ashina saw what happened . . . when your friends abandoned you."

Sam stared back straight into the eyes of his captor. "What do you mean? Let me go!"

Lord Nightshade put his hands behind his back and Sam noted that he had two katana on his side. With a nod, the figure in the lab coat stepped forward. Sam struggled. "Get away from me!" He cried, but a moment later and at the push of a button, the bonds on his arms and legs retracted and he fell forward. Lord Nightshade leaped forward and at first Sam thought he was being attacked, but instead, the masked figure stopped him from falling and lifted him back with his strong shoulders.

Once Sam got his feet about him, Lord Nightshade let him go again and then motioned with a gloved black hand to the man in the lab coat. "When we found you, your sanity was fading. Dr. McGrath managed to restore you back to your senses. Unfortunately you were too exposed to mutagen and for too long to heal you from your mutated state."

Dr. McGrath gave another coy smile and then stepped back into the shadows.

The room was eerily silent, dark, but warm.

"Your weapon is by the door," Lord Nightshade said, "You are not my prisoner here. You can leave at any time, although I would not suggest it just yet. You have gone through much. The Hamato Clan has done so much damage to you – wounds that are not seen by with eyes." Lord Nightshade reached out and placed his hand gently on Sam's shoulder.

The soreness seemed to leave him as Sam looked up at Lord Nightshade. The masked figure looked back unblinkingly and a confidence grew in Sam.

Another figure moved in the shadows and stepped forward. Burning red eyes – a falcon mutant and obviously a woman as well. Her voice was sharp and she eyed Sam suspiciously. "Lord Nightshade. We must prepare for the transaction with Dr. McGrath."

Lord Nightshade nodded and then turned back to Sam. "Rest here, my friend. Know that you are welcome here. We can be your family." He motioned for the wolf to leave as well and all the figures stepped out into the light of the day. Sam could see snow as light burned through the doorway and illuminated the home he was in.

Once the falcon left, the wolf went next. She turned and gave him one last look. Something sad and even pitying was in her eyes. Then she vanished into the cold. The doctor went next, followed finally with Lord Nightshade who also paused at the doorframe. He turned to Sam. "There is nothing out in the city for you." He said quietly, sadly. "But there is good yet to be done. I would be honored to have you join our family."

Sam looked on.

"The choice is yours."

Lord Nightshade then vanished through the white of the doorway and slowly closed it behind him, putting Sam back into the dark of only the candle light.

Donnie's lab echoed with the sound of constant incessant typing. Kaela sat at the wheeling chair, her face only a few inches from the screen as she scanned over news reports and data. Her brown hair was done up in a messy ponytail from having stayed up all night long at school. Noel wanted to meet her outside their first class which was in an hour.

Donatello was several feet away, but didn't seem to be paying any attention to what Kaela was doing. He was concerned with Mako who lay directly in front of him. He wiped at the sweat on his head with a white pad and then placed it in a beaker of clear liquid. Both of them seem relieved that the events of Valentine's Day were over and both were willing to pretend that things done and said as never having happened.

Sitting not far away from them was Jess whose chin was placed on the edge of the chair, watching as Donnie worked on her friend. His hair was drenched in sweat, the purple tips fading to their regular color. His face was red and hot and he hadn't opened his eyes since he attacked them at Winter's Corp. Jess blinked tiredly, not having slept all night – watching Donatello work.

"Hm." Donnie mumbled under his breath. The liquid in his beaker hadn't changed in the least. "I just . . . have no idea _what_ to think. This mind control isn't biological, chemical, or anything. It honestly looks more like neurological trauma. Some kind of mental issue."

"Is that something he can get over?" Jess asked.

Donnie shook his head. "Not by himself."

Jess didn't like the sound of that.

Donnie scratched the bottom of his chin and looked up at the ceiling, "Although, if we could get our hands on some Serotonin Extract, that would certainly help speed up the healing of any neurological damage. I think it would do wonders for him!"

With a smile, Jess perked up, her ears and bushy tail following suite. "Sweet! Do you have some of that?"

The frown that Donnie gave her wasn't encouraging. "Nope. But I bet I know someone who might. Kaela," he turned to Kaela whose fingers were still tapping against the keys quickly. "Do you mind looking up Eric Sachs?"

Kaela kept typing without looking up and then, realizing that they were talking to her, she peeked her head from behind the screen, her eyes bloodshot. "What?" she asked.

"Eric Sachs. Can you look him up?"

"Oh yeah."

Kaela typed quickly again and then turned the screen so that Donnie and Kaela could see it. A picture of a middle aged man in a suit that looked incredibly expensive and perfectly tailored in the sharp shoulders and tight fit across the chest stood there with a pink tie around his collar. "Eric Sachs, one of the richest guys in New York, right?" Kaela said looking over his description.

"In America, actually." Donatello corrected. "He owns Sach's industries which has pretty much everything from oil reserves to some of the rarest chemical toxins out there. He is bound to have some Serotonin Extract."

"I say we sneak in there tonight then and get some." Jess stood up in her excitement and put her hand next to Mako's head. She had an odd sense of running his fingers through his hair like they did in the movies when people were sick but she thought that could be awkward.

Donatello tilted his head and Kaela suddenly realized that he was reading the other tabs on the computer. "What were you looking up exactly, Kaela?" he asked.

"Oh!" Kaela said flipping the computer back around. "There have been some weird news stories about some people in New York being murdered. They were poisoned – all of them by the same stuff."

"What?" Donatello turned the computer to look at the screen and leaned in, squinting his eyes as he read over the material. "Nightshade! That is one of the deadliest plants known to man. Ingested, used as an oil, or even diffused it can do some serious damage."

"Obviously." Jess said joining the two in looking over the reports.

"Some of these guys are pretty notable people too! Dr. Farrell is one of the leading scientists! And isn't that guy a military general?" Donnie's eyes grew wider as he looked over the names. "That is definitely something worth looking into." He said, straightening up.

"Do you know what else is worth looking into?" Jess asked with a smile. "School being in ten minutes."

" _What!?"_ Kaela fell out of the chair and snatched up her backpack. "No! No! No!" she yelled, shoving papers and books into it. "Sorry guys! I'll see you later!" She threw the doors open with a slam and burst out of the lab and down the subway tunnel.

Raphael groaned from the coach. A wool blanket had been thrown over him and his green skin had gone a sickly pale color. His bandanna was askew and he was staring at the screen, watching _Chris Bradford and His Too Rough Crew._ "Why does there have to be so much noise in here?" he mumbled. Jess could hear the phlegm in his throat making him sound nasally. He had had a nasty cold since laying in the snow for nearly twenty four hours after Shinigami had knocked him out cold.

Jess smiled at him. "Want me to get you more hot cocoa?" she asked, punching herself internally for being so obvious.

Raphael ignored the question.

Jess now knew why. The past day, more echoes of people's thoughts were shifting through her mind. One phrase was repeated in Raphael's own head: _Mona Lisa._ At first, she was confused why on earth he would be constantly thinking about a Da Vinci painting. From further context and exploration, she had the vibe that perhaps she was a past girlfriend. _What parent names their child Mona?_ Jess thought bitterly.

"I'll go tell Ethan and Leo the plan." Jess said, unable to remove the grumpiness from her voice as she left Donnie and went to the dojo. She didn't spare Raphael a second glance.

Sliding open the door, she saw Leo and Ethan were underneath the tree, talking in hushed, but serious tones. As soon as they heard the quiet thunk of the door, they both looked up. "Sorry to interrupt." Jess said, not feeling sorry at all. "Tonight, Donnie and I are going to go to Sach's Estate to get some chemicals to help Mako get better."

Ethan's tail, which had been lazily zipping back and forth on the tatami mats suddenly stopped and twitched. "Sachs?" Leo asked, drawing circles with his finger on the tatami mat. "That rich guy? Isn't his house like an hour upstate into the hills?"

"I dunno. Probably." Jess said, not realizing till now that she hadn't even glanced at the address.

Leo said something lowly to Ethan who chuckled, but didn't seem to put much heart into it. "What?" Jess asked.

"Nothing." Ethan and Leo returned simultaneously. "Sounds good," Ethan added, "I don't mind. Mako did save us before – I think we owe him still."

Jess was satisfied with this answer. "Once Kaela gets home we can start heading up at that way so we can get there before it's too dark." Jess said carefully, ensuring she didn't enrage the beast and have him change his mind. Feeling accomplished, she left the dojo, leaving Leonardo and Ethan to continue their serious "leader" talk.

To be annoying, she went to the kitchen, poured a healthy dose of brown, chocolaty powder into a cup, heated some water, poured it, stirred it, and then returned to the living room where she set it on the table in front of Raphael.

The sick turtle strained his neck to see who entered and what they had put on the counter. Jess didn't say a word but walked away, trying not to make Raphael's eye.

Once she was far enough, she turned and was surprised to see that he had sat up and was taking a deep sip of the chocolate liquid.

Jess smiled in spite of herself.


	11. The Sach's Transaction - Part 2

Episode 21: The Sach's Transaction – Part 2

School days felt long now. Kaela couldn't help but feel something more and more as she walked down the hallways. Students gave her sideways glances. People she had once known names of had faded in the wake of everything around her and now everyone just seemed like a solid blur. They looked at her tangled hair, her pajamas, and Kaela was getting tired of figuring out more excuses. At least the day was over. Clutching her books closer to her chest, he made her way to her locker and opened it slowly, feeling each click on her dial lock.

The inside of her locker was surprisingly empty. Tagged on the inside of the door was a photo of Ethan, Jess, herself and Master Hamato. His kind face smiled at her, the white gi clean and pure. Ethan and Jess both were absent of fur. Kaela sighed, feeling her insides twist like a washcloth that had already run dry of water.

Nothing made sense any more.

Her siblings were mutants.

She had someone managed to control Donatello with her emotions.

And every day felt like she was trying to live a normal life at school while being the only thing standing between the city and the Foot Clan. Grades, dancing, and concerning herself with what she was wearing suddenly seemed trite.

"If you keep looking into your locker like that, it is going to depress me."

Kaela started and shut her locker, turning to see Noel leaning on the locker next to her with one of her quirky smiles, a blue bag slung over her shoulder decorated in pins from her favorite TV show fandoms. Feeling a little bit better with Noel nearby, Kaela smiled. "Sorry. Life has been crazy."

"Right? Dealing with more pink brain things in robot bodies?"

Kaela was going to ignore her, but was too sick of doing that. "No, those are gone now."

Noel raised her eyebrow, her smile not fading. "What's next then?" she asked. "Aliens?"

"No, ninja's actually." Kaela replied.

Noel looked into her eyes and then her arm holding a trigonometry book fell down to her side. "You're being serious aren't you?" Noel said, her smile gone.

Kaela shrugged. "Yup."

Noel shook her head as if she was trying to rid herself of an annoying insect buzzing around her head. "Well, I was going to ask if you want to hang out with Jacob and I tonight. We are going to that new horror movie."

"Jacob?"

Noel nodded, "He's in your gym class."

Kaela repositioned her backpack and puzzled over it for a moment. She remembered a lot of the boys, but most of them were loud and looked like they did nothing after school except for drink protein powder drinks, life weights, and talk about girls. Those were the ones she usually avoided altogether. "I don't remember . . ."

"No need." Noel said quietly and waved at someone further down the hall. "Jacob! Over here!"

Kaela turned to see a thin boy walking towards them with chocolate brown hair that slid to the side of his face in light waves. He was wearing a hoody that hugged around him tight in the sides. Suddenly Kaela felt conscious about her tangled hair and tank top. "Hi." Kaela said, positive that he wasn't in her gym class. She would have remembered him.

"Hi." He said back with a smile. His voice was quiet, although Kaela wouldn't categorize him as shy. He seemed happy enough.

"I was just inviting Kaela to come with us to see the movie tonight."

"That would be fun." Jacob said, still smiling at Kaela.

Regretting she had to say it, Kaela quickly said, "S-sorry. I actually made plans tonight already. Otherwise I totally would! It's kind of an important family thing."

"That's okay." Jacob said with a shrug. "Maybe next time."

"Yeah. Next time for sure!"

Kaela smiled at Jacob and then to Noel before walking back down the hallway quickly, feeling her face turn red now that students looked at her clothes and hair.

"Kaela is taking forever." Ethan said, lacing up the side of his leather front plate that he wore over his shirt. He had found some good equipment in the dojo and started to employ it more and more in his outfits.

"Patience." Jess said sarcastically, like she was trying to imitate him.

Leonardo and Donatello leaned over the sofa to look at their brother who was slumped on a pile of pillows with a blanket tucked all the way over his mouth. Raph glared back up at them. "Mikey, you take care of Raph while we're gone."

"I can handle myself." Raphael snapped, sounding both congested and muffled by the blanket. His statement was followed by a long series of hacking coughs directly into Leo's face.

"Gross!" Leo wiped at his face.

"Leo's got a point, Raph. With everything that's been going on, it probably isn't a great idea to leave you here by yourself." Donatello reasoned, adjusting his belt and flipping his bo staff onto his back.

Mikey bounced to the base of the couch, his hands full of Crognard and Super Robo Mecha Force VHS'. "We are going to have a banging awesome movie party, Raph! It'll be good bro bonding time!"

Raphael stared at Mikey dead panned and then looked back up at Leo and Donnie. "You honestly think this is going to _help_ me get better?"

Donnie shrugged with a grin that showed the gap in his teeth.

"Sorry guys, I'm late!" Kaela appeared from the dark tunnels, breathing heavy, sweat on her face and her backpack halfway off her shoulder. "I ran all the way here."

"School looked exciting today." Ethan said.

"Looks more like you went through a war zone." Jess noted.

"Same thing, really."

Kaela leaned over, still trying to catch her breath. "Just, wait a sec. I need to get my ribbon dart."

She passed them by and vanished into the bathroom where Ethan knew her ribbon dart _wasn't._ He hoped they didn't have to wait for her to shower, do her hair, and pick an outfit. He turned to Donnie and Leo who had joined them. "Sachs' Estate is like an hour drive away, right?" Ethan asked. "Are we going to take the Shell Raiser?" He was eager since they hadn't had a chance to enter the huge vehicle yet.

"Nope." Donnie said. "This would probably be a better job for the Party Wagon."

"Sweet!" Jess said. Ethan was okay with this compromise and he grinned eagerly.

Turns out they did have to wait for Kaela to shower and put on an outfit. Thirty minutes later, she stepped out of the bathroom, her hair done, her yellow bandanna around her eyes, the ribbon dart attached to a glittery belt.

They all packed into the Party Wagon, Leo at the wheel and Donnie in the passenger side. Jess, Ethan, and Kaela crammed into the back. Ethan couldn't help but notice a pack of mento's and liters of soda. He smiled at the improvised weapons.

As they vanished out of the city limits, the street lights started to blink into life, the night falling around them. Cityscape became mountainous and woods and long, one lane winding roads that led to the Sach's estate. It wasn't long before a towering mansion that looked more like a gothic castle appeared on the horizon, behind a pair of steel gates. Leonardo pulled off to the side, the huge wheels on the party wagon running deep grooves into the snow as they vanished out of the range of the cameras.

"Alright, we move quickly and silently." Leonardo said. "Full ninja mode."

With quiet nods, they braced themselves for the cold and opened the doors of the party wagon. Wind bit at their skin and suddenly Ethan became very grateful that he had remained both warm blooded and had a coat of fur along with his clothes.

They stepped out into the snow and quickly skirted around large pine trees that bordered the huge stone wall that blocked them from the Sach's estate. They made quick work of it as the two turtles and Ethan, Jess, and Kaela climbed their way up the wall with a pair of grabbling gloves that Donnie provided and then flipped up over the wall. Ethan took the lead next to Leo as they approached the huge cedar doors and, Leo went to work on the lock. Ethan, Jess, and Kaela turned to look out at the gate, but no guards made their presence known. The night was dead silent and eerie. The sounds of walking feet, honking cars, and the buzz of electric lights were all gone. Only the occasional hoot of a distant owl in the night broke the quiet.

"Like a turtle do." Donnie hissed with an enthusiastic grin as the lock clicked and the door cracked open. Wanting to be out of the cold, they opened the door wide to enter. The living room was dark, as was the rest of the house. The only light came from a fireplace that still had orange flames steadily lifting into the air and through the chimney. The house was immaculate – tall pillars of marble held up the crisscrossing roof. Ethan couldn't help but notice all of the Japanese armor and weapons that were displayed in tall glass cases that glared red. Beautiful long wall scrolls of ancient battles decorated the stone walls.

"Do you think he's not home?" Jess asked.

"He's here." Ethan pointed to a table by the fire. A series of wine glasses took in some of the fiery reflections, mingling with blood red drink that still sat in some of the cups. Jess closed her eyes and Ethan glanced in her direction. She looked like she was attempting to imitate April, her white fingers pressed to her temples, the fur on her forehead bristling from crinkling in concentration.

Finally, she opened her eyes in surprise and pointed down the far hallway by the fireplace. "That way. I think they are down in some kind of basement."

"How did you do that?" Kaela whispered.

Jess shrugged.

Donnie was staring at Jess as well in confusion and then glanced at Leo who said, "We can talk about that later. Let's get that chemical." Going in a single file line and making their feet as quiet as possible on the red decorative mats, they made their way down the hallway.

The light changed from the deep yellows and reds of the fire upstairs to a sterile white neon light. The intricate cut stone vanished into white painted brick and voices could now be heard. Ethan peeked around the corner to see a man identical to the Google image. Eric Sachs was standing by a steel table, arms folded across his chest. He wasn't wearing a clean cut suit, but instead a black, tight under armor shirt and a pair of jeans. He looked cocky and bored. A garage door stood just next to him, steel platted.

Tubes, beakers, bottles and monitors decorated almost every surface. Donnie looked over Ethan's shoulder. "There." He pointed quietly to a small fridge in a far corner in the dark. "It would need to be refrigerated at five to ten degrees."

"There's no way we can all go in there. We will be seen for sure." Kaela said.

"You got this Donnie." Leo said and the turtle, grimacing, slipped into the room quietly, keeping to the shadows. Ethan watched, his hand gripping his naginata tightly, his nerves strung tight. He turned his attention back and forth between Donnie who was inching across the wall and Eric Sachs who was paying attention to another man in front of him. The man was tall with long slender limbs and shallow cheeks. He had a wicked smile and deadly black eyes. His hair was dark and he wore a long white lab coat that almost blended into his pale skin.

"Do you understand that my net worth is over a billion dollars, Dr. McGrath?" Eric scoffed.

The doctor nodded, "I am aware. My overseer is prepared to offer you five billion dollars for your business and associated sponsors, chemicals, and equipment."

Ethan glanced back at Jess. She had her eyes closed again, her fingers to her temples, focused.

His eyes swiveled to Donnie who had managed to get to the dark freezer and was working on a lock again with his equipment. Ethan then looked back to Eric and Mr. McGrath. "There is no amount of money your overseer could offer me to sell Sachs Industries to you." Eric said, bored still, his arms firmly folded in front of him. "You don't know this yet, _Doctor,_ but I am about to be even more rich. Like, stupid rich. And besides, the company isn't mine to sell. I too have what you could call a sponsor."

The freezer opened and made only the slightest noise that made Ethan wince and hope that human ears didn't hear it as well. Donnie was fumbling over the bottles, mist pouring out from the freezer.

Jess gasped and Ethan looked back at her. Her eyes were on Eric Sachs and then she turned to Ethan. "He's planning to drop chemical toxins all over New York." Jess said.

"When?" Ethan asked flabbergasted.

"Tomorrow afternoon."

Ethan turned back, now looking at Eric in a new light. There was more to this business man than met the eye.

"If you are not willing to sell your business, then perhaps you can supply certain toxic chemicals to my overseer. We would pay you well for the service. Unfortunately, if you do not comply then we would have to—." A new voice interrupted Dr. McGrath, but it didn't come from Eric.

"We aren't alone."

A figure appeared and Ethan froze on the spot.

The figure was missing an ear – spotted fur bristling at their neck and their strong arms that held two tonfa weapons.

Bloodmaw.

And he wasn't looking at Eric or Dr. McGrath. He was staring at the mist that was appearing in the room from the fridge and then his eyes ran up until he was staring eye to eye with Ethan and immediately a grin split across his face.

"Well crap." Kaela hissed next to Ethan.

Another figure emerged next to Bloodmaw and Ethan knew her well. Ashina, the black wolf. She looked interested in a different way than Bloodmaw, but one that Ethan couldn't quite place.

Ethan pulled his naginata into a low horse stance as he rolled into the white light of the room, weapon ready. Leo stood by his side, katanas in a pincer stance. Jess and Kaela stepped into the light as well, their own weapons at the ready. "Your all outnumbered." Ethan said. "We aren't here to fight you."

"Says the person with all the weapons." Eric said cockily.

"So, these are the Hamato rats." Dr. McGrath smirked and a bloodlust ran through his eyes that surpassed Bloodmaw's own.

"We aren't here to fight." Kaela quickly supplied. "We only want a chemical to help our friend."

"Like I care." Bloodmaw snarled. "I'll rip you apart."

"Wait." Ashina put her hand out, her katar that wrapped around her arm glancing in the light. "I want to hear them out."

"Are you serious?" Bloodmaw snapped. "Lord Nightshade will rip off more than your ears if we don't get rid of them this time."

"Don't worry about that." Eric said turning and pressing a large red button behind him. A loud noise burst in the lab, making a sound that reminded Ethan of a train stopping on the tracks.

"Got it!" Donnie said, straightening up, a long test tube in his hand. "Oh, sewer apples."

The garage door made of steel had slowly opened and every face turned to see why Eric was smiling so widely. Behind the door was a crowd of Footbots, their red eyes glowing, along with a figure Ethan hadn't seen in some time and wished he wouldn't see again.

"All of my enemies packaged into one place. How convenient." Shredder stepped into the white light, his armor gleaming from the glowing white rods above his head.

"Like I said." Eric said. "I have a sponsor."


	12. The Sach's Transaction - Part 3

Episode 21: The Sach's Transaction – Part 3

"Does he honestly have nothing to do besides stand behind doors and wait to kill people?" Jess snapped, spinning her kama's in her hands like a lion rolling their shoulders to prepare for attack. Shredder stepped forward, his footbots obeying him immediately and Ethan felt something more animal than human that made him grip his naginata tighter and grit his teeth against each other.

"So, it seems that we have all of the ancient clans represented in this room." Shredder said. "Footbots, kill them!" Gears of metal shifted together smoothly as the crowd of black clad robots with glowing red eyes burst forward, weapons extending from their spinal cord in the forms of long saw-like blades and drills.

"No fighting!" Ethan snapped, holding Jess back. "Let's get that vile of chemicals out of here." Donnie burst forward with a cry, trying to outrun the others to the door. Ashina and Ethan caught eyes for a single moment and both glared at one another before Ashina turned and slammed her katar forcefully into the face of a footbot, silencing it for good. Bloodmaw pounced like a ravenous dog, throwing two to the ground and biting through the circuits in their necks.

Eric Sach's vanished around the corner and Dr. McGrath stepped behind the table. "Ashina, Bloodmaw! No more fighting! Get me out of here alive!"

"Ethan, let's move!" Kaela had grabbed his arm and was dragging him away. Ethan spun, trying to keep up with his siblings but suddenly two gleaming spines of metal slashed into the wall, nearly taking Kaela and Ethan's arms with it. Shredder stepped in between the two siblings. Kaela's dart was out in an instant. "You guys go! Ethan and I will take Shredder."

"Are they crazy?" Donnie snapped, clasping the vile filled with liquid in his fingers.

"Yes, yes they are!" Leo said. "Move!"

"I made short work of both of your Masters. Now it is time I finish the pupils once and for all." Shredder laughed, his voice echoing off the metal plate that covered his face and reverberated around the room to join the sounds of Bloodmaw's carnage of Shredder's footbots.

Ethan and Kaela lunged forward and both met the metal clang of his blade as they swung in both directions. He moved quickly, his feet spinning and nearly throwing Ethan and Kaela both off their feet. Donatello and Leonardo vanished around the corner and up to the front room again.

Jess appeared suddenly, slashing at Shredder from behind.

He had seen her before she began and grabbed her by the throat and threw her to the ground. Her shoulder rebounded off the concrete floor and she slid to the far well. Ethan threw his naginata in front of him as one of Shredder's long metal blades flashed in front of him. He felt the sting on his cheek and blood flecked across his shoulder.

Shredder raised for another strike, but his arm was suspended in the air as a Kaela's ribbon wrapped around it and she tugged it back again. Ethan rolled out of the way. Ashina and Bloodmaw had made short work of many of the footbots, but many had passed them and were sprinting towards Shredder to help joint he fight. "Let's move!" Ethan shouted, knowing that there was no way they could win against all of them alone.

Helping Jess to her feet, Ethan ran to the stairway. With a flip of her ribbon, Kaela released Shredder's arm just in time to shriek and jump out of the way as he charged her, his blade cutting deep grooves in the wall where she had been leaning on. "Follow them!" Ethan heard Shredder call as they sprinted up the stairs.

Once they slammed through the heavy wood doors, the car was already started. They burst across the path, jumping over the gate, snow billowing behind them and before the foot clan got to the front doors, they were already driving away from the Sach's estate.

Ethan sat quietly outside Donatello's laboratory as had been commanded of all of them. He had propped his leg up against the steel door, his arms folded across his chest. His fingers itched nervously at the fur on his forearm as he looked down at the ground. On occasion he would glance over in the direction of Jess who sat slumped against the opposite side of the doors, her white ears perking up at every sound that came from inside.

To try and keep face, he would occasionally look over at Leonardo, Kaela, April, Michelangelo and a resting Raphael on the couch. They were talking in low voices and Ethan knew they were already beginning to construct a plan to stop Erich Sachs and his Master Shredder. Thinking of Shredder's influence over the city with one of the most powerful men in New York made Ethan feel like an icy douse of water had been injected into his insides.

The sound of tinkling glass from inside the lab made Ethan glance over at his sister again. Her white fur on her shoulders and neck were standing on end and she was clutching her kamas so hard that he could see the bones jutting up through the snow white of her knuckles. He wanted to offer her some words of comfort, but he wasn't sure exactly what to say, so just watched her and tapped the heel of his foot against the steel door quietly.

Jess finally met his eyes. For a split second Ethan felt tempted to look away, but then he finally mustered up the courage, as if the spotlight had just fallen on him, and he said: "I am sure Mako will be okay. That formula Donnie got will help him."

Jess only nodded. Nothing more.

They went back to silence and Ethan tried to keep his mind away from everything that had happened, as well as from Karai which his thoughts usually wandered back to.

Raphael gave a loud snorting noise in his sleep and rolled onto his side, the sheets around him bunching up where his large brown belt was that held his weapons just beneath his armpits.

The door behind them slid open and Ethan felt his heel slip from the door. He turned to greet Donatello who was holding the purple liquid in a beaker. He glanced over at Ethan and Jess and seeing that they were the only ones who were ready to pay attention, he said quietly, "I think this will work."

"Really?" Jess asked hopefully, getting up slowly form the ground, her gaze fixed strictly on Donatello. The turtle nodded and removed a pair of safety glasses, clear in color. "He synthesized the chemical and injected some of it into his central nervous system. It seems to be beginning to do some good. His fever broke and his temperature seems to be going back down. His body is calming." Ethan noticed that Donnie still hadn't smiled as he was regurgitating the information to them. He met Ethan's eyes and then turned his attention back to Jess. "I do have an idea of perhaps how the rest of this chemical would work better to heal him."

"What is it?" Jess asked.

"The nervous system is great, but there are areas in the brain that if we could affect would help him heal quicker. Turns out as I was studying how Baxter Stockman got his brain worms engineered, he used a chemical called Reagent X. That is mainly used to move chemicals back to the brain to assist in initial brain function. If we could get our hands on some of that, then we would have no problem seeing even better results."

"I bet Shredder has more of that stuff!" Jess said eagerly.

Ethan shook his head, "Even if he did, his security has more than doubled in the last few weeks. He is recruiting mutants left and right, using the purple dragons all over the streets, and has Kitsune with him. Getting back into his lair is suicide."

Donatello nodded. "I have to agree with Ethan."

Jess huffed.

Then, smiling for the first time despite the tired circles under his eyes, Donnie said, "But, I bet Erich Sachs has some re-agent X. If we happened to be stopping by tomorrow to make sure a certain poisonous chemical doesn't get released, I could slip off and make sure I get my hands on some of that Re-agent X from the chemical vaults."

"I like this idea!" Jess said.

"Donnie, April, and Kaela could go and get the Re-agent X at the Sachs Tower. Leo, Mikey, and I can go up to the rooftop and stop that poison from being released." Ethan said.

Ethan could hear footsteps behind him. Leo was approaching, Kaela, April, and Michelangelo on his heels. "Once dawn hits, we should get moving." Leo said.

"Yeah!" Michelangelo said enthusiastically. "We have a billionaire to beat up!"

All seven of them, three turtles, two mammal mutants, and two humans, crowded in to the Shellraiser to together as soon as tiny little pricks of light could be seen from the sewer entrance above and shone like a spotlight in the center of the lair. The hulking vehicle rushed through the streets on diesel wheels and despite the seriousness of the mission that made Ethan grip his naginata which was already out of its sheath, he was grinning from ear to ear.

"This is so weird!" Mikey commented. "I don't think we've ever drove this thing in the sun before!"

"There it is." Donnie suddenly said, putting his finger on the computer screen in front of him. Ethan leaned forward to see a huge monolith building jutting out of New York like a giant blade, a sharp pointed top completing the image. "Sachs' tower."

"We can do this." Ethan said, nodding with a confident smile to his team.

"Let's hope that the whole building isn't crawling with foot soldiers." Leo said from the front.

Ethan didn't want to think about that too hard.

Cars beelined out of their way as the tank of a vehicle blasted through the streets of New York and eventually pulled up in a back alleyway just behind Sachs Tower. "Alright, we want to be as stealthy as possible." Leo said, heaving himself from the front seat of the Shellraiser. Ethan gritted his teeth at the ordering and felt it necessary for some reason to nod to his siblings, as if signifying to them that he was okay that they were obeying Leonardo instead of himself.

 _That is starting to get obnoxious._

Ethan pushed the thought away immediately.

With a sound that reminded Ethan of an elevator, the doors of their vehicle slid open smoothly, allowing a huge blast of sunshine to make its way to them, even though the air on the wind was bitter cold. "Let's go." Ethan said before Leo had the chance to. The seven of them together flitted out of the Shellraiser like they were a part of the wind. Their feet made no noise as they moved across the sidewalk. April closed her eyes once they had reached the huge stone pillars that held the bottom of the building up.

With an alien blue glow, the glass doors slid open and then closed once all seven of them had made their way into the marble entryway. "Alright, Leo, Mikey, Jess, and I will head up to the rooftop and see if we can disable the poison or whatever it is they have up there." Ethan said.

"Awesome. We will find away to the Sachs lab. It probably won't be too far from the top either." Donatello said. "I think we can find it no problem and get the Re-agent X."

"Break."

The two groups split and Ethan was glad to see that the lobby and the long gleaming hallways to the elevator were empty of Foot Clan. In fact, they were empty of everyone. Running down the hallway with Leo, Mikey, and Jess at his side, they paused at the stairwell. "Please tell me we aren't going to run up all those stairs." Mikey said, staring up the ascending staircase that wrapped infinitely above them, as if he had already run up them all.

"Not a chance."

The ding of elevator doors rang behind them and Ethan turned to see Jess smiling coyly, her finger on the button that was now lit up green.

All four of them jammed into the elevator, leaving little room to breath.

"Hey guys, check it out." Mikey was pointing to a sign on the elevator wall that stated: 'No weapons on the elevator' in bold red letters. Ethan chuckled, clutching his naginata and trying not to think of what he was sure would be waiting for them at the top floor.

He watched nervously as the numbers ascended in red that reminded Ethan of an alarm clock.

2...3…4…5…6…7…8…9…10…11

Fidgeting with the others, the beeping sound that indicated each passing floor was drowned out as Mikey began to slowly slam his nun-chucks together, making an rhythm that rang around the elevator. Leonardo slowly began to join, banging his swords together to make a ringing clang as Mikey began to drop a beat, using his lips pursed together and air in his cheeks to make sound effects.

Jess and Ethan glanced at each other with raised eyebrows and despite the intensity, the two smiled at each other.

23…24…25…26…

Donatello, April, and Kaela ran up the stairs as fast as they could. Kaela could feel her breath coming out in awful hacking puffs. The spit in her mouth had turned awfully sour like she had been sucking on morning breath flavored warheads. Not wanting to beg for a break, she kept going behind the other two. April had found a new black and yellow jumpsuit that she was now wearing over her regular yellow shirt and shorts. Tucked in a belt around her middle was her fan.

"Just a little farther, I think!" Donnie repeated after they had passed a red sign indicating they were near the fortieth floor. It had been the fourth time that Donnie had said that, his own breath coming out haggard. Finally they stopped at one of the landings, a steel door had black industry letters painted on it declaring that behind it was: **DEVELOPMENT LAB.**

All three didn't go to the door and instead propped their palms on their knees and breathed deeply. Kaela gulped down bile that was trying to force its way up her throat and burned the sides of her mouth. "My legs feel disconnected from my body." April groaned quietly.

"No…No time to lose." Donnie said between pants. As quickly as he had said it, Kaela could hear that he was beginning to control his breathing again, toning it down and she tried to follow suit. He leaned over and with a quick but quiet tap of his hand, the handle clicked and the door slid open a crack.

April clutched at the fan on her belt and pulled it from where it was, flipping it open gracefully to show the white emblem of the Hamato clan and six sakura flowers. Kaela grabbed her ribbon dart from her side and flipped the dart out, ready for action, the blue silk feeling cool against her hot skin.

Donatello peeked in through the crack and then slowly opened the door wide for them to see.

The lab reminded Kaela of what she imagined a hospital would look like. The walls and floor were sterile white. No other colors were present in the entire room, save for gray or off white. Most of the cabinets were made entirely out of glass and huge and odd pieces of equipment stood in corners of rooms next to long steel tables. Donnie's eyes seemed to glow. "Look at all this _cool_ stuff! Is that a PCRmax Alpha Thermal Cycler 4?"

Kaela had no idea what he was looking at from all the strange machines she was seeing, including one that looked like a giant, white microscope and another that looked almost like a giant donut ring with a stretcher coming from it to lay bodies she assumed.

"Okay, let's stop drooling over this equipment and find that Re-agent X stuff!" April said moving past Donnie into another glass room.

51…52…53…54

The elevator gave a final ding and the doors of the elevator slid open, blasting chilly sunlight into their faces and making Ethan cover his eyes with the back of his hand. They were on the top of the roof. Metal grating covered the entire terrain and a huge tower that looked like a giant antenna stood in the center of the building.

Standing near it was what looked like a steel plated control panel . . . and Shredder, a red cape covering his bladed shoulders and his usual mask covering a majority of his face. The only thing they could see were the dark, flashing eyes and the scarred burnt flesh on the left side of his face as he turned to see who had joined him on the top floor.

Leonardo, Mikey, Ethan, and Jess swung out of the elevator. "Ready?" Leonardo said it like it wasn't a question. "Stance!" Mikey and Leonardo immediately dove into battle position. Leo's blades pointed like pincers at Shredder, his legs spread apart and Mikey flipped his nun chucks under his arms with a fluid swing. Ethan and Jess quickly followed suit, throwing his naginata out with a smooth flip around his forearm, his sister's kamas spinning air into his ear and stirring his fur. "Let's do this." Leonardo hissed, "For Sensei."

"Cowabunga!" Mikey hollered as they jumped forward.

Shredder moved like water, flashing past a powerful kick that was meant for his head and he snatched Ethan's leg out of the air.

For a sickening moment it felt like he was floating in space and then he felt the metal grating come up to meet him.

In a flash, although he didn't hear anything but a scream, Jess was suddenly rolling over the metal and her white fur flew over the edge of the building. "JESS!" Ethan screamed and he stumbled to the edge of the tower.

Jess was clinging on the metal pillar with all of her strength, deep grooves scratched into the iron from catching her fall. "Hold on!" Ethan desperately scrambled for something near him, but nothing was long enough to reach her.

Desperation filled her eyes as she held onto the beam, hundreds of feet in the air.

Leonardo dashed out of the way of a powerful striking attack from Shredder, blades cutting the few inches of air between him and certain death. Mikey swung the air with a cat call, his heel nearly making contact with Shredder's neck. But he was too slow.

With a slash, Mikey cried out in pain and sprawled backward, red flecking Shredder's blades. "Pathetic!" He cut into Mikey again, but this time the turtle was prepared and like a break dancer, flipped onto his hands, swinging his legs out of the way and skidding cross the icy surface of the building. "Pay attention to me!" Leo threw his arms out, his swords ringing against metal.

"Redundant." Shredder hissed.

Leo flew backward from a powerful strike to his solar plexus and slipped his way over to Ethan.

 _We can't win._ Ethan felt the words that sounded too close to reason. His veins were on fire, despite the cold and suddenly he could see blood and fire in front of him. He could see Hamato Yuta in an alleyway, doused in red, his eyes blank and dead. _You can't go there! Not now! Jess! Jess, Ethan!_ He hurled the fury from him and let his naginata fall to his side. "Hold my legs." Ethan demanded of Leonardo.

The turtle didn't hesitate but snatched up Ethan's legs and dug his three toes into the metal. Mikey hollered as he dashed out of the way of another swift attack from Shredder who was moving like lightening, his yells of fury like the clap of thunder.

"This way." April led Donatello and Kaela who were close behind her into a metal hallway and then turned suddenly. "There." April pointed and Kaela could see through the glass windows that Eric Sachs was standing in the lab, a huge metal machine spinning in front of him that Kaela didn't recognize. Red liquid was filtering through pipes, a tiny glass vial in front of him was filling with green liquid.

"Let's finish this." Kaela moved past April and made her way as stealthily as possible to the other side of the room. The moment her foot passed over the awning she saw a glint of metal and screamed, tumbling out of the way as the sound of gunfire burst into her ears followed by the ping of a metal bullet that had narrowly missed her ricocheting off the metal wall.

"KAELA!" April screamed from the other side of the room as Kaela took cover behind a metal table, crawling on all fours. She grasped for her belt and felt ice run through veins and convert to burning sweat on her face.

Her ribbon dart had fallen from her belt and sat on the floor, a clear shot for Eric Sachs who had brandished the black handgun. "You three?" His mocking voice echoed around the metal room. "You are adorable. I could just pinch your cheeks!"

Donatello pulled April back with a cry as another several bullets rebounded near their heads on the doorway. "Your dad was killed by Master Shredder wasn't he?" Kaela felt the cool of the metal desk on her back as she realized that Eric was talking to her. "How about we repeat history." Another bullet bounced off the edge of the table and Kaela withdrew her hand, gasping.

"Kaela!" Suddenly April's fan flew through the air and slammed into Eric and the gun clattered to the ground.

Kaela burst from her hiding spot and snatched up her ribbon dart.

Eric had snatched up the gun.

A flash of purple jumped in front of her and with the sound of a gun shot, Donatello hit the ground.

"DONNIE!" Kaela screamed. Without thinking, she flipped her wrist. Her ribbon dart moved through the air with almost impossible accuracy, binding around his gun and with a wrench it flew through the air, pitched up and then with another swing slammed into the top of Eric's head and he dropped to the ground, blood trickling from his forehead.

"Donnie!" Kaela and April both scrambled over to the turtle.

He hissed through his teeth, the gap in his teeth making it sound like a whistle and he grasped at his shoulder, red leaking through the cracks between his three fingers. "I'll be okay." He said. "It isn't a lethal shot." He smiled at the two of them and his eyes almost immediately darted to April.

She smiled at him.

"Thanks for helping me." Kaela said standoffishly, standing back up. "I'll grab the Re-agent X. You help him April."

April turned to her with a smile altogether different from the one she had given to Donatello. It was one that Kaela understood as gratitude, but for some reason it felt like pity.

Ethan was dangling hundreds of feet in the air. Should Leonardo slip or Shredder attack him, Ethan knew that both he and his sister would be falling to their deaths. "Hold on!" As much as Ethan yelled it to his sister, he could see the fear growing in her eyes as her claws scrapped into the metal, the only thing holding her from certain death. "Now, mutants, you will die like your father!" Shredder's clunking boots could be heard approaching them. Mikey had lost the battle.

"Jess, you have to reach me." Ethan tried to say it as calmly as he could as he stretched his fingers until it felt like they were splitting.

"How am I supposed to do that?"

"Jump."

"You are insane!" Jess cried.

"Jump!"

The lights of Jess' eyes darted up to Ethan for a split moment as she launched herself from the beam. Ethan's gut lurched and his fur stood on end as he felt the tips of Jess' fingers barely graze his own and then vanish from his hold.

Then suddenly, impossibly, her hand lurched upward again and Ethan snatched it.

"Flip us up!" Ethan yelled.

Leonardo screamed with effort and flung upward.

Ethan was spinning through the air and then, just before Shredder's raised blade slammed into Leonardo's side, Ethan threw all his weight into his chest and the two fell together, Jess on their heels.

The sound of Shredder's metal armor smashing and dinging along the grating echoed in the air and Ethan felt himself tumbling over to the large spire. "Move!" Ethan felt Jess grab at his side. Everything seemed to be spinning around him.

He could feel his sister's hands helping him to his feet and the odd sound of metal slamming against metal which grew louder and louder until it sounded like the building would split in half and the grating was quaking beneath him. "JUMP!" Mikey dropped himself under Ethan's other arm, tugging him out of the way and Ethan's eyes suddenly looked up to see the spire filled with poison had snapped like a twig and was plummeting hundreds of feet down towards them.

Again he slammed into the ground as the spire grated against the side of the building throwing debris everywhere. The spire held on for only seconds before it toppled on its side and with a final few blinks of a red light on the side of the tank of poison it fell over the lip of the building and out of the sight towards the ground below.

"NO!" Jess launched herself to the edge, arms outstretched. Dizzily Ethan thought she would jump over the edge as if she could catch the spire, but she had stopped at the edge of the building.

Ethan closed his eyes, bracing his ears for the sound of metal slamming in the ground which would surely be followed by screams.

They didn't come.

"Re-Agent X!" Kaela snatched the vile of purple sparking liquid and brought it back to where April was nursing Donatello's arm. As she helped April get Donnie back onto his feet, the other hand grasping the vile of purple the whole building shuddered.

"What was that?" April asked, freezing, looking up at the ceiling where the noise had come from.

The Sach's tower trembled again.

"Come on!"

Half dragging Donnie behind them, April and Kaela made their way through the white glass covered hallways and out into the gleaming elevator. "Maybe we should pass up on the elevator." April said, nodding to the door labeled stairs.

Kaela dragged Donnie that way in reply, but he was finally getting back to his feet and was catching up with their frantic pace. With a slam they burst through the door and began running down the stairs, a line of glass windows showed the street hundreds of feet below them.

An object brushed into Kaela's peripheral vision and then a shadow fell across all three of them.

"Oh my word."

A gleaming spire that had once been on the top of the building was now dangling over the streets, seemingly held up by nothing at all. It was levitating in mid air.

"April!" Donatello pulled out his bo staff and with a solid strike slammed it into the glass and it shattered down into the streets below. Wordlessly April left from under Donnie's arm and stepped out onto the ledge.

"Kaela, can you tie your ribbon around my waist?"

Kaela obeyed and Donatello leaned against the wall as Kaela hastily wrapped her ribbon around April's waist and tied it as tightly as she could. She held the bolt with Donatello's help and April leaned her body out into the New York air.

She grabbed the crystal around her neck and with the other hand she pushed up on seemingly nothing. For a moment nothing happened. Then the spire began to move back up into the air.

Ethan could hardly believe his eyes as suddenly from over the edge of the building the spire was coming back into view. Jess crumpled to her knees, her hands still outstretched and then with a resounding slam and the shout from Leo: "No way!" the spire hit the metal rooftop and then all that could be heard were police sirens.

Spinning around, Ethan scrambled back to his feet with Mikey and Leo at either side of him. Shredder was nowhere to be seen. Turning back to his sister, Ethan booked it across the ceiling of the large building and caught her before she collapsed on her side. "Let's get out of here before the police catch up!" Mikey said.

With Leonardo's help, Ethan pulled Jess to her feet and she gave a blurry look at Ethan and a small smile. "That was incredible, Jess!" Ethan exclaimed as they made their way to the elevator.

"Thanks." Then she closed her eyes and heaved a sigh of exhaustion.

A few hours later Jess lay on the couch, a blanket tucked around her chin, head to head with Raphael who was asleep from his horrific cold. Ethan could hear Donatello working it the lab behind them on Mako. The news in front of him, Mikey, Leo, Casey, and April was depicting the sudden spire as it stopped in mid air and then went back up onto the metal grating of the roof, safe out of the way from people who would have died from the poison. "That was crazy." Leonardo said.

"Seriously though!" Casey exclaimed, "So you _and_ Jess have Kraang mind powers?"

April nodded, holding her crystal but still staring straight at the screen in front of them.

The reporter had returned, the streets crowded behind him as he tried to talk, the microphone up close to his lips. "Eric Sachs, the owner of Sach's industries in on trial and will be appearing in court after he has recovered from his injuries. In other news, the entire stock and shares of Sach's has been sold to Dr. Trenton McGrath.

Ethan had a feeling that that is would be the case.

On the screen was the doctor who was a part of the Shinotomo Clan.

"Interesting." April said leaning in.

"What does that mean?" Leo asked.

"Whatever it is, it's not good." Ethan said.


	13. The Mutation Mission - Part 1

Episode 22: The Mutation Mission – Part 1

Quiet humming, the tell-tale color of the mutagen from Dimension X, and the cool feeling of freezing air against stone. These things had become home to Kitsune. The green of Japan was something she had hoped to see again, but even more, there was something deep inside that craved the black and crimson blood sky of the Dimension she had spent all of her existence before taking on the clothing of mortality. That place she craved more than ever before, and yet she remembered how desperately she wanted to escape it – to leave that place and return to a world where the mortals were so easy manipulate. She did not, however, come to this place to be manipulated by a bug.

"You are staring again, Kitsune." Oroku Saki spoke and she snapped from her visions of dark clouds and miasmic lakes of grays. She turned to look at the one who preferred to be called Shredder, gleaming in his armor as he sat on his throne. His armor was polished enough to throw light into the glass that covered several feet of water on either side of the steps to his throne and Kitsune ignored the distraction of the water and what it made her remember.

Kitsune leaned forward so her voice would only be heard at a whisper as they were not the only ones in the room. Far across on the other side were tall green insects that twitched their wings and stared with their black eyes in every direction. Their presence was foreign not only to earth but to all the dimension and Kitsune stared at them with hatred. "I do not see reason or cause to allow this insect into our midst Saki. He offers you nothing that I myself cannot offer." She whispered, here eyes like poison as she looked at the creatures at the doorway.

Oroku Saki did not turn to meet her gaze and Kitsune gripped the side of his chair, dragging her claw like fingernails into the chair, her teeth gritting as she tried to contain her magic. _This could be so much more simple._ She thought to herself, wanting to reach in and meld Oroku Saki's mind to her own desires, but she knew that if she did so, Tigerclaw and an army of Foot Ninjas would be against her and getting the three she valued would be halted. She could wait just a little bit longer. "Do not question me, Kitsune." As the familiar and too often heard words came out of her mouth her shoulders seized up like an angry cat that someone had attempted to stroke. "Dregg is providing us with mutants quicker than any has provided me before and soon I will have a mutant army to send on the citizens of New York. They will bow before the Foot Clan and kill the remainder of Splinter's disciples."

Kitsune hissed through her teeth and withdrew herself from his side. Without speaking another word to him she strode down the steps, her body morphing until it was a gleaming golden fox, many tails swishing behind her. Oroku Saki did not stop her and she strode past the Vree soldiers of Dregg, picturing the joy she would feel in ripping both of their throats out.

Once she reached the hallway she noticed the odious bug appear from the darkness. She probed out with her mind until she sunk into the arrogance that she recognized as Dregg. "Well, well! I wasn't expecting the witch to be just a stupid fox!" he snorted, his huge claws tapping together.

"Insolent insect." She hissed into his mind and made sure it echoed and stirred across the waters of his mind. He looked at her with surprise. "You know nothing of the power I have."

"How dare you speak to Lord Dregg with such condescension!"

Kitsune laughed at him, her tail dancing against the walls delicately as she did so. "If you are so powerful and great, why have you not yet managed to destroy the turtles. They seem to have had a wonderfully successful career in evading you, as well as make you look like a fool. Neither of which are particularly difficult to do."

"What!?" Dregg sputtered, his claws now clenched at either side of his body, his wings buzzing furiously.

"It is only a matter of time Dregg before I manage to convince Shredder that you are useless to us. After he realizes it, I don't see any reason why he wouldn't allow me to drop your already mangled corpse on the steps of the Earth Protection Unit."

"You do not yet realize the might of Lord Dregg!" he snapped, his wings now in a flurry of wind that kicked up dust from the stone floor. "If you do not believe me, I shall prove it to you when I drop the turtle's shells at the feet of your precious Shredder!"

Kitsune cocked her head and let her tail brush the floor. An idea had appeared in her mind and danced its way through her fur putting a smile on her lips. "Prove it to me by bringing me the other three. Then I too will bow at your feet, Dregg." She hissed through his mind. "Get me Ethan, Jessica, and Kaela."

Lord Dregg buzzed with anticipation. "Then you should prepare to bow to me lowly creature."

"Explain to me why we didn't just order pizza." Mikey whined, his chin on the table. Ethan walked past him and set the table with old glass plates that were the color of bread crust that made him imagine ancient Japan. Leonardo, Raphael, Donatello, and Mikey all sat at the table while Ethan set the table and Jess and Kaela busied themselves in the kitchen. Kaela was doing most of the cooking, but Jess would give her perspective on the taste now and again and take care of the other chores, like stirring the pot, cutting vegetables and the like.

"Master Hamato always did family dinner." Ethan said, swishing his tail behind him from the joy of the memory as he set a bowl in front of Raphael who was busy texting on his phone. "I think Kaela felt it was about time we did that again."

"Should we have waited for a day that April and Casey could join us?" Donatello asked, stroking the chopsticks laid on a white glass stand. Ethan knew that only one of those two people he actually cared about inviting.

Ethan made his way back towards the kitchen area to grab the cups. "April had an internship meeting with Winters Corp." Ethan explained. "She said they are going to be doing some Central American scouting for some old ancient statues!" He grabbed the cups and set them in front of each of the turtles and at the empty seats of his sisters.

Jess suddenly burst from the door with a huge pot in her mitted hands that hid the claws on her fingers. She stumbled in with the heavy pot and placed it on the table. With a flourish she took the lid off and a cloud of steam hovered over the family making them all sigh with the anticipation of food. She quickly dished each bowl, giving an extra helping to Raphael that seemingly only Ethan had noticed and pretended not to. "So, how's training going?" She asked nonchalantly to Leonardo. "Having fun with Karai?" She was noting Leo's night trainings with Karai out on the rooftops. Thinking about it made Ethan sick.

"Good." Leo said as equally nonchalantly while avoiding Jess' eyes.

The question had been a decoy.

Jess had used the time they were distracted to pile an extra bowl filled with rice and slip it behind her back. Ethan had noticed. "I'll be back." She said as if she hadn't heard Leo's answer and she slipped out of the kitchen area and down the hallway.

Watching her from the corner of his eye, Ethan saw the doors slide open to Donnie's lab where Mako had been sleeping for the past few days. "She really thinks she's subtle huh." Donatello said smugly as he poked at the rice with his chopsticks. "This smells amazing."

"How'd you know?" Ethan asked. Mikey was already chowing down the plain rice and Leonardo began to tell him off for not waiting for the others as well as the rest of the meal.

Donatello shook his head and flipped out his phone. "I installed a digital trip wire. As soon as anyone walks into my lab, my phone goes off. So it wasn't really that hard." Ethan chuckled and shook his head as Kaela appeared with a bowl of chicken in one hand and a pot of miso in the other. Ethan quickly took the pot from her hands, the padding on his fingers making the head more easy to withstand.

"Well, if it isn't the token human." Raphael said, putting his phone away.

Kaela gave him one of her pointed glares. "Ha. Ha." She said putting the chicken on the table. "Dinner is served!"

They all clapped their hands together. _"Itadakimasu!"_

Ethan snapped up his food as he watched the others from over his bowl of rice. "Gimme that!" Raph was the first to chicken and he placed a large quantity over his rice. Mikey was busy smothering his own food with tonkatsu sauce.

"Save some for the rest of us!" Jess snapped as she made her way through the doorway empty handed. She sat down next to Kaela who was laughing with Donnie about something he had said about Mikey.

Ethan couldn't help himself from smiling. Nearly a year ago he never would have thought that they would have actually found the turtles, realized their vision of the Triceratons, and saved the world from total destruction. Nor would he have thought that he would see his father figure die at Shredder's hand. His face fell slightly and he turned to Leonardo as he stuck some rice into his mouth. "Do you think Bishop will contact us soon about your father?" he asked.

Leo shrugged his shoulders as he gulped down some chicken. "I hope so. It's been weeks without hearing word one from him."

"I wonder what he meant when he said that Splinter could be found. Didn't you see him…y'know…"

"Yeah. Shredder killed him."

Ethan went quiet again and turned his attention back to his bowl.

"Stop talking about depressing things!" Mikey cried. "This is a party!"

"He's right you guys." Kaela said, Donnie returning to his food. "This is meant to be a family dinner and we shouldn't worry about what we can't fix right now."

Raph and Jess exchanged knowing glances.

Leo smiled at them. "You're right."

Together they laughed at the table and downed their food until even the bowl of chicken was empty and Mikey had downed three more servings of rice. As they cleaned the dishes together, Raphael and Jessica enjoyed a shoving match at the sink and Mikey had made Kaela cry herself to tears of laughter as he skirted across the table with a dish rag like an ice skating champion. Donnie and Ethan swept up the floor and dried the dishes and Leo cleaned the stove quietly.

After, the group spent a few hours playing Mazes and Mutants until Donatello was falling over on Kaela's shoulder from tiredness which made Kaela's face flush red, although she managed to shake it off before anyone saw – save for Ethan. "Jess and I will patrol first." Ethan offered.

Jess sighed and got up as Leonardo packed up the board game. "Anyone up for a Space Hero's Marathon?" he asked.

As Jess and Ethan filed out of the lair they heard Mikey call behind them: "Yeah Boi!"

The two shuffled quietly down the tunnels, their tails twitching behind them as they moved. Ethan's naginata and both of Jess's kamas were out, although the weapons hung casually in their hands. Nothing had been seen in the sewers in weeks, but that only amplified Leo and Ethan's worries about what could be happening with Shredder up on the surface.

"So, how's Mako?" he asked slyly, giving his sister a look.

"Don't even start, Ethan." She shoved him playfully and he stumbled in the water that went up to their ankles and he laughed.

"Still not over him then?"

"I was never into him."

"Right." Ethan made sure to shove as much sass and sarcasm into his words as he possibly could.

"What about you?" Jess countered. "Weren't you into Karai?"

Ethan winced, knowing that Jess was just joking, but his ears flattened against his head all the same. "I did." He said. "I dunno. Leo and her are basically with each other, I don't even really have a chance. I think it would just be best if I let that go."

The conversation vanished as they made their way deeper into the sewers. Ethan perked his ears up at every sound and tried to keep his thoughts focused on the green algae that was growing on the sides of the wall and the constant dripping that echoed down the tunnels.

"Wait, stop." Jess said.

Ethan paused and twitched his whiskers, sticking his tongue out. The air tasted of something unfamiliar and ominous and he quickly turned to look at Jess. Her ears were twitching. Then suddenly the ground began to quake beneath their feet.

"What's happening?" Ethan shouted over then noise, looking around desperately for an answer to the sudden quaking.

Jess looked up. "Ethan, move!" she shouted, jumping out of the way. Before Ethan could react to her sudden yell he felt his feet leave the ground as something massive launched him off the ground. The neighboring wall came up to meet him and he felt his shoulder smash into the wall leaving cracks. Something huge was pinning him to the wall, keeping him from falling to the ground and crushing him against the cold stone.

He twisted himself, trying to get a good view of his attacker and he met huge burning eyes and bleached white horns. "Buller!" Ethan hissed through his teeth – Mako's friend. He saw Jess burst forward to his defense but before she made it, she was thrown out of the air. The figure spread their long black wings and Ethan's theory was confirmed. Mako's other friend that Mikey had titled FiendWing was there as well. Ethan tried to push himself from the wall but Buller only threw himself further into the wall. "Guess what, I am the one who gets to kill you!" Buller raged.

Ethan could feel his shoulder caving in, his body aching as he tried to twist his naginata for an attack. In the background he could hear Jess screaming. His eyes were closing and blackness was spreading across his vision. His lungs felt broken and he couldn't breathe.

Then all at once he was freed and breath flew back into his lungs and he collapsed to the floor as he felt Buller hit the ground next to him. Another figure had joined them and as Ethan's eyes focused he could see that it purpled tipped hair.

Mako.

The teen stumbled forward as Buller made it back onto his feet. Ethan tried to get up but instead let out a series of loud coughs. He turned and saw Jess hit the ground as FiendWing kicked her and then burst himself back into the air out of her reach.

The ground cracked as Buller jumped out of the way. Mako's long scorpion tail had appeared and was stabbing at the ground aiming for a strike at his friend. "You guys get out of here!" Mako cried.

"Can't you tell them to stop or something?" Ethan managed to shout, his lungs constricting as he did.

"Something is wrong with them – something worse than any brain worm." Mako jumped out of the way, hitting the side of the wall but he kept himself upright and his tail whipped around, the deadly point slashing at Buller's arm. The ox bellowed and fell backward into the water, throwing a wave up around them. "That Kitsune woman did something to them!"

Ethan got to his feet and jumped forward as FiendWing prepared another drilling kick at Jess. With an angry flick of his tail, Ethan hurled himself through the air and slammed the side of his naginata into FiendWing's large leathery wing.

The oversized bat shrieked and crumpled to the ground. As soon as Ethan's own feet landed on the sewer stone he felt his legs buckle and the air leave his body again. Buller had done lasting damage. Ethan felt his knees hit the stone floor as Jess tried to straighten herself up. FiendWing had turned away from them and now was joining his friend in attacking Mako, but he was throwing both of them off with a sense of ease.

"Jess." Ethan muttered, reaching out to her and grabbing her shoulder. He could see that some of her white fur was stained red with blood that leaked from a bite in her shoulder. Jess winced as she straightened her back.

"What hit us?"

Ethan was about to answer, but he could see something stirring in the dark of the sewer. The next second, Jess was screaming as something dragged her from Ethan's arms and into the darkness. "JESS!" Ethan screamed.

"I thought I would find you stupid mammals." A voice that sounded vaguely familiar issued from the darkness. A towering figure of purple stood in the dark with glowing green eyes and luminescent, papery wings. The insect was familiar – the one that had attacked them and the turtles during the war of the Heart of Darkness. Lord Dregg. "Now Kitsune will learn to respect my authority." He gloated. "Vree, capture him."

Ethan quickly pulled out his phone and texted one word to Kaela: "Help."

Then a convergence of towering green bugs converged on him.


	14. The Mutation Mission - Part 2

Episode 22: The Mutation Mission – Part 2

"The signal definitely came from here." Donatello said leaning down with his scanner. He was gazing at the water as Kaela stood nervously next to him.

"There was definitely a fight here." Leo said, passing his hand over the cracks in the walls and the floor. The signs were clear to Kaela as much as they were to the turtles. Mako had vanished suddenly at the lair and it was clear from the stinger like holes in the floor that he had come here and fought with Kaela's two siblings – but from Ethan's text, they hadn't been successful. Kaela felt her body shaking as she remembered when Ethan and herself had not managed to save Jess and she had been transformed. What would Shredder do this time? She tried not think about it and closed her eyes, holding herself with her arms. Donatello straightened again and turned to Kaela and placed his hand on her shoulder. "There isn't much of a chance that they didn't get captured." He said, crestfallen.

"If it makes you feel better, we've been captured like a million times and it always works out." Mikey smiled putting both of his thumbs out as if that notion would make Kaela feel better, but she ignored him.

"We can get in and get them back." Leo said.

Kaela shook her head, trying to keep her lip from trembling. "There's no way. With Shredder, the Foot Clan, Kitsune, and now Lord Dregg and his Vree, there is no way." She said. "Even if Casey and April were available, we are way too outnumbered and out-skilled."

The sewers became quiet as the four turtles listened to her and then the constant drip of the water around them. Kaela felt her fist curl and tremble as she tried to keep her eyes from watering. This time felt different than any other they had had before. Her heart turned her back to the first night they had been allowed on patrol when Tigerclaw had captured them. She straightened her back and then turned to the others who watched her wordlessly. "I'm going to get them back."

"You just said that was impossible." Raphael said, arms crossed over his chest.

"No." Kaela said. "There always has to be a way and even if I have to do it alone, I'll find a way." Deep down inside her she had placed the only ace she had on her newfound powers. _Not that I know how to use them or what they exactly do._ She told herself with frustration.

"And you wont' have to do things alone." Leo said.

"Yeah! We can help!" Mikey chimed in doing a quick handstand and straightening himself again.

"That," Leo said looking pointedly at Mikey, "And I'll find Karai and Shinigami. They will help us, along with some Foot Clan recruits from Japan that Shinigami brought with her." Kaela assumed since this was new information that Leonardo and Karai were having some private text message conversations.

"Thanks, Leo."

The group made their way back to the lair. Leo paused Raphael along the way and with only a little bit of grumbling, the two made their way out of the sewers and back up to the surface to find Karai and Shini. Mikey, Donatello, and Kaela mazed their way through dank tunnels until they reached the upper subway and walked through the train gates into their living room. "Now we need to talk plans." Donatello said eagerly, striding across the lair over skateboards to his lab, purple cloth from his bandana waving behind him.

"Plan?" Mikey asked following just behind Kaela as she followed him into the lab. The lights switched on reflecting in the algae pool nearby.

Donnie sat down at his chair and pulled out a notebook and pen. "You can't honestly expect that just a straight attack or even stealth infiltration will get the job done. Kaela is right, with Dregg, the Foot Clan, and Kitsune all there, Shredder's army has expanded to much to possibly get in like that."

Kaela smiled at Donnie's flattery.

"But, that's how we've always done it," Mikey said, "How are we going to get in if we aren't going to go ninja stealth or full battle mode?"

Kaela watched Donnie as he placed the pen under his chin and tapped his fingers on the blank paper in front of him. His eyes swiveled around the lab as if hoping to find something around him. "If we go after him with the Turtle Mech, they'll smash it to bits along with us before we ever got into the building. If we use our stealth smoke bombs, we could get in from the basement through Shredder's weapons room but then we'd be surrounded before we ever found Jess and Ethan." He was speaking more to himself than he was to the other two.

Sitting down, Kaela began to ponder with him as well. Her eyes ran across the cans of mutagen that Donatello had been collecting, along with vials of various DNA samples he had been collecting from the zoo and nearby animals on the street. An idea was beginning to form in her head – one that both thrilled and excited her. "When Ethan first transformed into a Red Panda Mutant, Shredder and the others didn't know it was him." Kaela said slowly. Donatello and Mikey's eyes were glued on her now. "And Shredder is still recruiting more mutants that they are creating from the Purple Dragons to build his army." Kaela continued. She could tell that it had already clicked in Donnie's head by his wide eyes, but Mikey as confused as ever. "Donnie, what if you—."

"That's crazy, Kaela!" Donnie exclaimed, his pen dropping from his fingers.

"Uh, am I just super slow or did I miss something." Mikey asked.

"Kaela is insinuating that we mutate her to she can disguise herself into Shredder's lair!"

"What's insinuate mean?"

"Did you not hear the second half of what I said!?"

"Guys!" Kaela burst out, "I need your help on this! My siblings are in danger and the simple truth is we don't even know _where_ they are in that building! If we just go all out attack or sneak in, we're dead! Someone will find us before we find them and then that's it! Game over! But if I am a mutant I can waltz right in there, find them, and then get them out with your help."

Donatello and Mikey were both staring at her and then they exchanged a look with each other. Mikey shrugged and sat in the swiveling chair next to the desk and spun it. "Sounds crazy! I like it." Donatello looked at Mikey and then back at Kaela, his hands fidgeting in front of them and then with a final sigh of defeat he shook his head and motioned Kaela over to the nearby table of mutagen and DNA.

"I can do it." Donatello said, "But honestly, I am beginning to learn that the retromutagen is just as unstable as mutagen itself. Turning you back may not be possible." He looked nervously over at Kaela as he tinkered with one of the canisters of glowing mutagen. "Are you sure you want to do this?"

"Yes." Kaela said. "I'm lucky. I don't have to get it shattered all over me or thrown into a vat of it."

"Guess that's true."

Mikey swiveled his way over to the desk and leaned his green chin on the edge of the chair as he watched with something Kaela wasn't sure if it was eagerness or nervousness. "So, what animal do you want to be turned into?" Donatello asked.

Picking up one of the bottles, Mikey said, "This isn't fair! We didn't get to choose! I would have wanted to become a dragon!"

"Dragon's aren't real!" Donatello snapped back as Kaela picked up the glass bottles and read the titles. Her hands were shaking as she did so. It made her insides squeeze together painfully at the thought that she was about to make a decision that would permanently alter her. Something as serious as marriage felt like an easier decision.

 _Panda Bear, Dolphin, Brown-tailed Viper, Mongoose, Deer_

None of the titles sounded appealing at all to Kaela and she tried not to imagine herself as a half mongoose running around a prairie. "Uh." Kaela said putting down the _Elephant_ bottle, "Do you have any suggestions?"

Donatello turned to the table and began to look over the bottles, "Well, I mean – you're a martial artist so you will want something agile, nimble, skillful, a body that won't get in your way." As he spoke Kaela looked over the bottles.

A small colander shaped one gleamed at her and she slowly picked it up. _Black Jaguar._ It stated on the bottle. Now Kaela's hand shook for a very different reason. Something about the name spoke to her and she knew that this was the one she wanted. "This one." She said, her voice shaking as she placed the bottle in Donatello's hand without looking at him or the bottle. She knew if she thought too long about it or looked into his eyes or at the few drops of liquid in it that she wouldn't do it and her siblings fate would be decided.

He read the bottle title with Mikey leaning over his shoulder.

"Sweet!" Mikey exclaimed, throwing out his nun chucks enthusiastically and giving them a triumphant spin. "I wanna do it!"

"Hold your shell." Donatello said as he nervously opened the vile. "Boy, I feel like Baxter Stockman in all the worse ways." He said as he dumped the liquid into the mutagen. It shimmered for a moment as the liquid from the bottle turned a deep black and then seemed to vanish into the mesmerizing blue of the mutagen. "Kaela, you sure about this? You won't be able to go back to school. You won't be able to—."

"None of that matters right now." Kaela said. "If you keep telling me things like that I'm going to chicken out. So let's just do this."

Donatello handed her the mutagen canister and Kaela felt the weight in her hands. She looked down into the mutagen and could see her own reflection in it – her own human reflection with her fair skin and her long brown hair. She closed her eyes, not wanting to look at it anymore. "So, do I just like…pour it on myself or something? Do I drink it?"

"Pour it over your head." Donatello said, his voice barely a whisper now.

Mikey grabbed onto the back of Donatello's shell in a frightened hug and watched with wide eyes. Kaela slowly lifted the glass canister over her head and let it sit there in the air for a few moments. She took a final deep breath and then, clenching her jaw, squeezing her eyes shut, and tightening her lips she turned the canister over.

For a few moments she felt nothing and she wondered if the mutagen's viscosity was too thick, but then suddenly she felt it drip down her hair and onto her face. The liquid traveled down her arms and with every inch that it spanned it went from a cool feeling like water to a burning heat. By the time the liquid had reached her fingertips and was running down her legs she couldn't take the pain anymore and she dropped the canister.

The sound of shattering glass sounded distant and she could hear Donatello and Mikey crying out, but she couldn't tell what they were saying. She refused to open her eyes – and she didn't need to. She could feel her skin shrinking back. A horrible pain was expanding at her tailbone and she could feel her fingers slicking with fur.

The floor rushed up to meet her and she could hear herself screaming. Her hands grabbed at her head and then suddenly everything went black and cold.

"Kaela!" A voice called to her and for a moment she thought it was Master Hamato and that everything that had happened had just been a long terrible dream. But the moment she opened her eyes she knew that that wasn't the case. Her eyesight had changed. Suddenly everything came to her with more detail than she had ever seen before. Her vision felt as sharp as a blade. Donatello's face came into view. "Kaela, are you okay?" he asked, his voice cracking as he spoke.

"Yeah." She finally groaned. She was thankful that her voice sounded exactly the same. "Do I look okay? Is it bad?"

"No! You look great!" Donatello said.

Kaela hoped that black jaguars couldn't blush.

"At first you weren't stabilized! I had to hurry and work some retromutagen through your veins and it stabilized the mutation. It all worked."

"You look so legit!" Mikey shoved Donatello out of the way and leaned in until his face nearly touched Kaela's. "Do you see in black and white?"

Kaela shoved Mikey out of the way as she straightened herself. She had been laying on Donatello's table and she felt something uncomfortable under her. She pulled at it and felt a tug at her tailbone. Looking down at her hand she saw she was holding a long slender black tail. If she looked closer she could see patterns of leopard spots across it in a faint goldish gray color, like rusted metal. Her hands had sleek black fur across them and her palms were padded with sharp, glittering claws protruding from the ends. Her pants felt baggier on her body and her she quickly stood up.

Running from the room she made it to the bathroom, Donatello and Mikey following close behind her. Kaela gasped when she looked in the mirror. Her eyes were a deep yellow and she had silvery whiskers protruding near her mouth and on the sides of her cheeks. Her hair hadn't entirely receded but had become a deep color of black and her ears had become rounded and higher up on her head. "This is crazy." She managed to get out and she glanced at her sharper white fangs that had grown in.

"I guess April has to be the token human now." Donatello said with nervous laughter.

"Okay, so the plan." Kaela said trying not think about her reflection too much. "I need to change so I don't look so much like me. Then I can go to Shredder's lair and say that I was a Purple Dragon that got mutated and I was sent to join his army. I am sure they will let me in. Then I find Jess and Ethan and I'll call you when I get them towards the doors. Then Karai, Leo, Raph, and Shini can distract, attack, and defend while I get us to the sewers. Then we can retreat and call it good."

"Sounds like a plan." Donatello said. "Call us if anything goes wrong and get out of there."

"Will do." Kaela said as she made her way back out of the bathroom and to one of the storage closets where they kept all of their clothes. The two left her alone and she examined herself as she changed. She could hardly believe it, and although there was a sadness that permeated her mind at the drastic and unalterable change she had gone through, she felt an inner excitement. Her body moved more quickly, her smell was deeper, her vision brighter, and she could hear the voices of people talking above ground as if they were in the next room over. After she had changed into her leather martial arts gear, she grabbed her ribbon dart and tucked it away in a large pocket on a belt that strapped across her chest.

She selected a dagger from the dojo that didn't look particularly recognizable to be her fake weapon and then confronted Mikey and Donatello at the exit of their lair. "I'll let you know if I need help. If not, I'll let you guys know when you are good to attack." She said.

Donatello nodded in agreement and then put his hand on her shoulder. "Be careful." He said.

"Kick some foot butt!" Mikey pumped his fist into the air and then petted Kaela's head.

Kaela smiled and then with a final nod she burst past them and down the subway towards Shredder's lair and her siblings.


	15. The Mutation Mission - Part 3

Episode 22: The Mutation Mission – Part 3

Opening his eyes blurrily, Ethan suddenly felt immense and sudden pressure in all of his body. Colors blended together above him and he began to realize that he was in the dark of some room. Strange orange light was flickering on the walls around him. "Ethan?" He heard a groan next to him and he turned his head, a pounding headache appearing behind his eyes. Jess was next to him, although she was not sitting up. She was lying with her back on a stone table, tight ropes binding her arms and legs so that it was difficult for her to move. Her white tail hung limply next to her. Ethan knew when he saw her that was in the same situation.

Looking down he could see that he too was bound to a table. "Where are we?" Jess groaned. Ethan tried to get his eyes to focus but they continued to rebel against his wishes. He could make out candles with wax that had long since been burned and was dripping onto the cool stone floor. Long wall scrolls depicting rowers on long rivers that winded through the mountains and odd looking creatures were hanging from the walls and spanned from ceiling to floor like drapes.

"I don't know."

He struggled against his cords but his body immediately protested. Every limb felt sore and seemed to shriek in protest when he tried to move them and immediately his head began to pound again. Getting up wasn't going to be happening anytime soon. He groaned and laid his head back down, his fur feeling matted and dirty.

"I have been waiting for this for a long time."

Ethan became suddenly aware that they were not as alone as he had originally thought. From the shadows he could see a form moving with fluid, graceful strides. But this was not a figure standing on two legs, but rather four. It was a fox, as graceful as any he had ever seen with shimmering fur and odd patterns of orange across their face and their four tails. The fox strode between their two tables and then suddenly was melding and morphing, the fur falling away into long sleeves of a kimono and the markings sliding away into the folds of long black hair that reached the ground. "Kitsune." Ethan muttered under his breath.

" _Ohisashiburi da ne."_ Her voice was as silky as the folds of her long kimono.

"What do you want?" Jess hissed through her fangs, although her voice cracked and vanished at times and she licked her lips.

The tall woman looked down at their faces with her beautiful eyes and placed her hands on their foreheads. Ethan struggled against her touch. "To guide you." She said. Ethan could feel her cold fingers against his fur and he pushed at his body, trying to find a way out, trying to free himself from the cords, but it was impossible. "So alone…" she said softly. "Found on the streets as teenagers. You don't know who you are or how you ended up here." Her voice trilled off into a light chuckle that echoed around the candlelit room. "But I know exactly who you are and where you came from."

She suddenly was kneeling down next to them and Ethan struggled again. He could see her face inches from his own. "Soon I will have your sister as well and Shredder will rip the turtles apart. And then, we will be a family again."

Kaela walked through the dark New York street cities. She didn't have to worry about any pedestrians as most had learned not to come near this place. She was grateful she didn't have to hide from the people that just a few hours ago she would have been able to walk around in plain sight. She tried not to think about the transformation, but her keen eyesight and her ears that twitched at every ear made it difficult to ignore. She held only a glittering dagger at her side with a dull brown wooden handle, but she occasionally would finger the rope dart behind her. She had removed her bandanna and stuffed it into her pocket to avoid henchmen recognizing it.

As the doors came into view several blocks before she was there she could see clearly two figures on either side of the doors. Tigerclaw and Rahzar. She gulped and realized that she had been correct in assuming that this was going to be the best method to get in. She could see the green insectoid creatures that Lord Dregg employed dancing about the ceiling and footbots were stalking the sides of the building near the sewer entrances. "Who are you?" Tigerclaw growled lowly as Kaela stepped up the stone stairs. She felt a measure of relief from his words – he hadn't recognized her.

"I head that Lord Shredder is looking for recruits." Kaela said trying to put ice into her voice, her hand on her hip. "Mutant assassins – I think I fit that description."

Tigerclaw glared at her with his one eye as Rahzar sniffed the air. "I don't recognize her." Rahzar said. "Where are you from?"

Kaela's mind froze for a moment but she shrugged her shoulders lazily to buy time and said without hardly thinking, "I'm from Utah." _Why Utah?_ Kaela asked herself stupidly. All she remembered was the history lessons in class on the golden spike in the railroad and pioneers. She cleared her throat as the two exchanged looks with one another. "Very well." Tigerclaw finally said, "Enter. We will have Anton Zeck escort you." The doors opened wide and Kaela from the corner of her eye could see shadows watching from the building next to them – Donatello and Michelangelo had found their way to Shredder's lair.

She was met in the cold darkness that now seemed brighter than ever before by Bebop. She thanked her lucky stars that she was charged to be escorted by someone this stupid. "I'm supposed to take you to Master Shredder." He said, his glowing purple lines across his chest and legs were almost blinding to Kaela with her new sense of sight.

"You don't need to." Kaela said coldly. "Shredder is an old friend of mine. I know where to find him." She pushed past Bebop, hoping he would listen to her and, to her joy, he turned back to the door without another word. She smiled inside and jumped for joy but didn't say a word aloud. As soon as she was out of site of the main doors and down the hall, she veered off and hid herself behind a pillar. She closed her eyes and tried to think. _Where would they be?_ She twitched her nose. The place smelt dank and there were new aromas that she wasn't sure if she had ever smelt before or if they simply were more potent than what she was used to. As she sniffed she hoped something recognizable would come out. Then it did. Something that smelt of what Jess used to wear all the time before she was mutated. Kaela sniffed again and then moved away from the pillar and down the stairs deeper into darkness.

"What are you talking about?" Ethan could feel his mind clearing at what Kitsune had said. "What do you mean family?" The cords around him were so tight he could feel them digging through his fur and into the flesh of his arms.

Kitsune smiled. "You don't see yet do you? You don't belong to this place." She said quietly, stroking at the fur on the side of his face. Ethan could hear Jess struggling against her own cords. "You are from a much more ancient year. You were once born in Japan. And I was your mother."

"Liar!" Jess snapped.

Kitsune suddenly turned to Jess and her soft fingers balled into a fist that wrapped around the fur at the side of her face and she yanked her closer. "You know nothing." She spoke as Jess yelped. "You have been very bad children, but once I am done with you then you will be my obedient daughter and son again. Then I will have you fetch your sister for me." Jess bit at Kitsune's fingers with her sharp teeth and Kitsune immediately let her go and Jess fell back onto the table.

The sound of a door opening echoed around the room and Ethan tried to lift his head. In the darkened doorway he could see someone he had never met before. They had gleaming yellow eyes and a dagger at their side. At first he thought it was some sort of black panther mutant but then with a closer look he could see that leopard looking prints covered her dark fur in light outlines. _A jaguar of some kind?_

Kitsune whirled around with fury. "I am meant to be alone here." She said with deadly quiet precision.

The figure glanced quickly at Jess and Ethan and then she stepped forward towards Kitsune fearlessly. "I was sent by Lord Shredder to ask a question of you."

Ethan felt a tremor of shock. The voice sounded so oddly familiar and then something in the female jaguar's eyes caught his attention – a flash that he had seen only when Kaela had been dancing on stage. At first a sense of stage fright, but then always smothered by a sense of conviction and confidence.

"Does he not realize the concentration required of me at this time?" Kitsune hissed. "I cannot be bothered."

"It will only take a moment." The figure slowly approached, their long black tail swiping anxiously behind them. She stood right up to Kitsune who glowered at her. Then Ethan felt something cool and sharp touch the edge of his arm, although the jaguars body covered him so as not to be seen.

Kitsune leaned in until her nose nearly touched the jaguar's. "Then speak."

Ethan could feel the ropes loosening on him as a blade cut through one of the ropes. He squirmed as subtly as he could, and he felt the rope fall from his side. It would only take another few struggles and he would be free. "I wanted you to know that these two are to be freed."

"What? Freed?" Kitsune breathed, but then suddenly a recognition appeared in her eyes and with a flurry the jaguar whipped out a ribbon dart – a very familiar blue one and Ethan knew that he had been correct. Kitsune jumped backward just in time to dodge the metal tip from smashing directly into her face. Ethan gave one last push and felt the ropes drop from him and he leaped through the air, landing next to Jess.

Kaela gave another quick swipe and Jess was up, ropes thrown around her. "How dare you!" Kitsune hissed, but then suddenly she paused and then the silence shattered like glass and the candles flickered. "Well, it looks like I have all of my children again – but not a single one of them human."

"Kaela?" Jess asked with disbelief.

"We can talk about it later." Kaela said spinning her dart around her arm and putting it into a defense position, the dart clasped in her hand.

"Stop talking like we're your children. That doesn't make any sense!" Ethan snapped at Kistune as the three backed their way towards the door slowly.

"Is that so?" Kitsune asked. "Three teenagers suddenly appear in modern New York on the side of the road with no memory of who or where they came from. The answer is in front of you. You three were my children in Japan hundreds of years ago. I brought you here."

Ethan could remember all of the flashes of green that he had seen, of a beautiful woman with long flowing black hair. He couldn't allow himself to believe it. He couldn't drink that in. He gritted his teeth and despite the candle light, everything inside him seemed to grow cold and dark like a bucket of cold ice water had been tossed over his fur and recognition that had grown inside him came to full clarity. "Even if you escape me." Kitsune whispered but her voice echoed across the room. "You will never escape all of Shredder's army outside this door." She lifted her hand out as if to take theirs. "Come back to mother's arms. Come back and I'll make the pain stop."

They had backed themselves to the door and Ethan reached out and grabbed the shaft of his naginata. Jess flipped up her two kamas with her foot. Kitsune's smile vanished as she looked at their glimmering blades in the fiery light. "You would seek to kill your own mother?" she asked coldly.

She looked down at the floor, her face hidden as Ethan slowly felt his way up towards the first step of the stairs, unblinkingly watching her.

"Naughty children are to be punished."

Then, her hand whipped up and a blast of assaulted the candles and they puffed out.

"Run!"

The three burst up the stairs and they could hear her laughter echo after them.

"She's right!" Jess called. "There's no way we're getting out of this place!"

"I got it covered." Kaela hollered after them. It was almost impossible to see her in the darkness, her form moving quickly, the pads of her feet echoing off of the stone stairs. They reached the hallway and Ethan immediately understood what she meant.

Footbots were strewn in pieces across the floor. The turtles, Karai, Shinigami, and a host of red foot soldiers were moving this way and that taking on Shredder's goons. "It's about time!" Shinigami called out. Ethan could tell it was her from the sass that coated every word she said.

"Fall back!" Karai called out giving a quick sly smile in Ethan's direction. "Let's move!"

"Don't let them escape!" Tigerclaw called after them.

Ethan, Kaela, and Jess burst across the hallway, kicking footbots out of their way as they moved. Ethan jumped between two pillars throwing one out of his way quickly with a roundhouse kick and hoping back to the ground. "Come on guys!" Leo called bursting forward and slamming the doors open with a kick, rolling out onto the street.

"You would think the police would do something for us on occasion." Jess called over the noise.

Shinigami flipped over a footbot, slicing his head as she did with her crescent blades, her hat glittering in the light of the candelabra on the pillars. They burst into the fresh air and rolled out. A footbot grabbed at Ethan's tail and with a quick spin he kicked off the robots hand. He rolled out of the room and made a quick inventory check. Karai, Shinigami, the four turtles and his siblings, along with a crowd of red clad foot clan humans.

Karai clenched her hand into a fist and then spread her fingers wide. "Split." She said.

Without another word they burst out into the cold and vanished through the different streets. Before Ethan turned the corner he glanced back behind him.

At the doorway was Kitsune, her red and gold kimono glistening in moonlight, her long black hair coming down her back like a waterfall that pooled at her feet. Her face was blank, but then the edges of her lips twitched into a smile before she disappeared from around the building.

"Kaela!" Jess cried with a laugh when they had made themselves safe back in the lair. "How did you get mutated?"

"That was me." Donnie said weakly, propping himself up with his staff, breathing deep from their sprint back to the lair.

Leo put his hand on Donnie's shoulder. "Becoming an amateur Stockboy are you?"

"Never again." Donnie said.

Kaela smiled back at her siblings, her black fur glossy, her whiskers twitching. It was the same glamor that Jess and Ethan had always seen in their sister and yet had just enough different in her that Ethan could see that she had become someone quite new. "Why?" Ethan finally asked softly.

Kaela looked up at her siblings and she opened her mouth. She closed it again and her eyes glistened. "I couldn't let the people I care about most go." She finally said. Somehow between the words it ended up as a group hug between the three, their arms slung around each other in a mix of colored furs and choked laughter.

"Awww." Mikey simpered behind them. "So cute. Group hug!" he spread his arms wide.

"Forget it." Raph said.

Donatello straightened himself again. "What about Mako."

Jess turned with her siblings to face the turtles. "We don't know where he went."

Suddenly a beeping sounded from Donatello's lab. He quickly jumped up and ran to his lab. Raphael shrugged at the quizzical expression Ethan gave him. "Guys! Come in here quick!" Donatello shouted from his lab.

The group of turtles, Ethan, Jess, and Kaela burst into the room.

Donatello was at his laptop, typing away. He looked up at them, his face serious. "It's a message from Bishop."


	16. Connive and Conquer - Part 1

Episode 23: Connive and Conquer – Part 1

"Finally!" Leonardo said, scrunching himself next to Donnie for a better view of the screen. "What are you waiting for, pick it up!" Donatello fumbled with himself as he pressed the buttons on his computer and immediately a window pulled up on his computer screen.

Ethan immediately recognized it as Bishop from the black glasses that he wore on his plastic face, his hair too perfect to be real.

"H-hello!" Donatello quickly said.

"Hello turtles and turtle allies." Bishop said, adjusting his glasses on his long, broad, but nonetheless fake nose. "It is good to see you all again." Ethan, Jess, Kaela crammed behind the four turtles that sat on the lip of Donatello's chair.

"Hi!" Mikey said cheerily. "Have you found Master Splinter yet?"

Everyone leaned in closer to the screen.

Bishop pulled out the smallest of smiles. "After much searching, yes, we have."

"Where is he?" Leo pushed past Donatello leaning closer to the screen his arms spread out across the desk.

"Down in front!" Raph snapped at his older brother but Bishop ignored the interaction.

"You may be unaware of this, but the entirety of the known universe includes the foundation of ten different dimensions. Your galaxy being only one of them. We searched the other ten dimensions that might have been effected by the black hole generator, but we did not find his unique life signature in any of them. This is when we began to question if he was lost in the void."

"The void?" Donatello asked with an ominous tone.

Mikey looked up at Ethan, Jess, and Kaela. "That doesn't sound good."

Bishop continued, "The Void is like the padding that all the other dimensions rests on, similar to objects floating in water. The floating objects in this case are the dimensions and the vast, deep pool of water is the void. Once we began probing at the vast nothingness we managed to find Hamato Yoshi's life signature there."

"Is he alive?" Leo pressed.

Bishop paused at this moment, his image flickering for only a moment. He adjusted his glasses again. "It is difficult to tell." He said. "The Void of the Ten Dimensions is a difficult place to permeate, but it is possible that his soul is there – not just his body. Now," he was serious again, "Tomorrow at 1:00pm meet at where I first met you turtles. I will be there and we will open a portal we are preparing that will lead you to the Void."

"We'll be there." Raph said before Leo could.

"Then farewell for now."

Bishop's image fuzzed and then faded.

It was quiet for a few moments as the four brothers gazed at each other and then back at the screen. Words didn't need to be spoken. Ethan could feel it all around him – a nervousness, an excitement, like standing on the edge of a cliff hoping that your parachute would come out in time. Leonardo turned to them. "You three don't need to feel like you have to come." He said. "I mean, Kaela, you have your friends like Noel and Jacob to worry about."

Kaela looked confused and Ethan realized he had not told her that he told all of her high school life stories to Leo and the brothers. "Not to mention that you three could stay behind to protect April and Casey." Donatello said eagerly, turning in his chair and looking mostly at Kaela as well.

"Forget it." Ethan said. "You're family and so is Master Splinter. If he's out there, we are going to help you find him." He crossed his arms across his chest with finality.

Jess smiled, "That's the first time you've been all 'authority-figure' and I've actually liked it."

"Uh, thanks." Ethan said.

"And besides, I am pretty sure that Casey and April can take care of themselves." Kaela added.

Leo smiled and put his hand on Ethan's shoulder. "Thanks, guys." He said. "But if that is the case then we should probably all go get some sleep. Who knows what is going to happen tomorrow after one." Ethan had to agree with Leo and they all slunk off to their separate rooms. Kaela, Ethan, and Jess sat on the living room couch as the lair slowly became dark and quiet. Jess bundled herself up in blankets, something Ethan had struggled to do every since he had grown his own blanket all over himself. Kaela lay on the ground next to the couch Jess was resting on.

"So, is anybody gonna bring up all of the weird stuff that Kitsune said about us?" Jess asked quietly, looking between Kaela and Ethan. "I mean, do we honestly want to believe that we were born hundreds of years ago in Japan and that she was our mother. Cause that doesn't seem to make any sense to me at all."

"Well," Ethan said softly, "I think it might be more believable than I would like. I mean – I've had these odd dreams when I meditate and sometimes when I'm sleeping of these long green fields near the ocean and a beautiful woman with long dark hair…someone who felt like a Mom. Now that I think about it, she looks a lot like Kitsune."

"And remember when you got poisoned by Karai," Kaela mentioned, "I was able to heal you because of the healing mantras were written entirely in Japanese, but I could read them like it was English."

Jess leaned up, propping her white furry arm against the pillow. "For the record though, I don't know how much I want put money on someone who serves Shredder. I mean, his group is known for their incredible honesty and integrity."

"Definitely." Ethan and Kaela nodded together. "Whatever information she has, she would use it against us…but still…I'm worried that in this case she is pretty accurate."

"If it is," Jess continued, "Then why would she displace us hundreds of years into the future and as American teens? How is that even possible?"

Ethan shrugged, "Several months ago, I would have thought it impossible for all of us to be sitting here as an artic fox, a black jaguar, and a red panda."

"And we are going to jump into a different dimension through a portal tomorrow." Kaela added. "Whose to say what is possible anymore?" The four chuckled quietly together in the dark as Jess slumped back onto her pillow. Ethan laid his own head down and smiled, glad that amid all of the craziness that had happened in the last year, he had his family here.

"This is the second time this week that one of Don Vizioso's gangs have cleaned a place out at gunpoint." One of the men waiting for the subway said, slapping at his paper for emphasis as he looked at his friend who was equally dressed in a suit and tie, a briefcase slung at his side. The other man shook his head sadly and looked down at his watch.

From the corner of the subway with a hood over her head and her tail tucked uncomfortably in a pair of jeans, Ashina watched the two men. She had managed a miracle – she had asked Lord Nightshade if she could take on the role of spy. EmberEye certainly didn't have time to do so with her new training regimen and besides, tucking her wings into a shirt would be impossible. As long as Ashina kept her gloves over her black furred hands and the hood up over her wolfish face, she would be as normal as anyone else – albeit uncomfortable. In reality, what she had wanted was to walk around the streets in the morning like everyone else and get away from everything that was happening back at the old wrecked Japanese square. She couldn't stand to watch the new recruit – Sam – listen to every word Lord Nightshade said like he was his Dad. She couldn't watch as he trained with him, helping him stretch out his new wings that came with becoming part owl. She couldn't stand to remember what it had been like when she too was recruited and had hung on Lord Nightshade like a lost puppy.

Her phone buzzed in her pocket and Ashina quickly snatched it up and put it through her hood to her hear. Although it looked awkward to tuck the phone into the hood, it would be more awkward to take the hood off and let everyone see her perked up wolf ears. "What?" she asked, knowing that only one person ever called her on her phone.

"Lord Nightshade has a new task for us. You better get down here quick, I think he is almost done with Sam's training."

"Got it."

Ashina quickly hung up the phone, trying to repress annoyance as she spun on her tennis shoe covered feet and strode up the cement stairs to the surface level. It didn't take very long for her to stride through the people who were going to work or to school. Their feet crunched against the snow that had fallen in the last few days. Likely the last real snowfall since it came at early March. Once she rounded the alley corner she could see the wooden fence that signaled their hideout. The street here, as usual, was entirely empty.

She jogged across the street and as she opened the large wooden door with a grunt she pulled the hoodie off entirely, her chest covered by black leather padding. With some struggling she wrenched off the jeans and the shoes, her lower body covered with black and white patterned shortened and billowed pants for fluid movement. Her feet remained bare and she tore the gloves off last as she made her way up the lane, past where Doctor McGrath was working and into the dojo. Sam, Gore, and EmberEye were all sitting quietly waiting on the sidelines. Bloodmaw was kneeling in seiza format in front of Lord Nightshade.

"Any word?" Lord Nightshade's question blew through the air like a chill wind as Ashina sat down next to Bloodmaw.

"Don Vizioso seems to be doing what you want him to." Ashina replied.

"Good." The black scarves that hung around Lord Nightshade's shoulders stirred as he turned to them, his hood up as it always was and his glittering mask covering his face, save for his piercing blue eyes. "There is something on the wind." He stated quietly. "I have felt it. We are not yet prepared to reveal ourselves to the world. Our next stage is not yet complete, although we have now secured for ourselves all the mutagen we will need, we must now continue to find more collections of poison from this place. We cannot risk discovery or infiltration."

"My Lord, you are powerful and wise. I do not think we need fear of a traitor in our midst."

"Silence, EmberEye." Lord Nightshade said quietly, but his words were like a dagger and EmberEye immediately silenced herself. Ashina met Sam's eyes and felt shame for she knew that he saw Lord Nightshade as she had. Someone powerful and respectful that one could bow their own allegiance to with eagerness. She had spent sleepless nights regretting that day. Lord Nightshade continued, arms behind his back as he looked at his soldiers. "I sense something dire on the horizon. Something that could interfere with everything we have built. The Foot Clan has recruited Kitsune, an old friend that will have to be killed swiftly and at any cost. But what I fear more is the Hamato Clan. I have concern for what they have been hiding in their lair below the surface." He then turned his gaze sharply to Bloodmaw and Ashina. "I want you to follow them. And if necessary, I want you to kill them."

Ashina and Bloodmaw bowed their heads and Ashina couldn't help but feel a measure of excitement. The Hamato Clan had always made her day more interesting. Lord Nightshade nodded solemnly. "Leave." He said and Ashina and Bloodmaw quickly strode back up and departed through the doors.

As they walked down the path together Bloodmaw shook his head. "Lord Nightshade hates us. He is always putting me on those freakin' Hamato Clan people. I'm sick of it. Hasn't he learned that obviously I just can't beat them? Why doesn't he do it himself." He grumbled all the way to the gate.

"C'mon." Ashina said. "I think they are kind of fun. They are way more interesting that this place."

"You seem eager." Bloodmaw said.

"I'm eager for anything that gets me out of this dump for a while. Come on, I bet we can find them if we look. They are always lurking around." She slammed her shoulder against the door to open it just enough to slip through it and then her and Bloodmaw vanished down the street.


	17. Connive and Conquer - Part 2

Episode 23: Connive and Conquer – Part 2

Ethan had been here many times before. They were racing across the rooftops of the Springtree Boulevard. Not far away was the meat locker where the turtles had first met Bishop. The seven companions didn't even have time to say goodbye to April and Casey and so they left them text messages saying that they would be gone for a while but would be back. Or at least – being back was the plan.

They had spent the morning packing food into bags just in case the trip was unnecessarily long. This also included a change of clothes and Donnie had made sure to grab a first aid kit. Mikey had jammed a stack of frozen pizzas into his own backpack and had said an overly fond farewell to Ice Cream Kitty as if he was never going to see her again.

They paused for a moment to catch their breath on the next building. Ethan could see his breath burst in front of him. The snow around them had lost the fluffy feel of winter and had instead become a cracked icy, dirty layer of cold over everything as winter began to make its way out of New York at the onset of spring. As they all quietly stood on the roof, a group of mutants on a mission, Ethan heard the tell-tale sound of the crunching of snow and glanced at the roof next to them. He couldn't help but feel like they were being followed.

"Ready to keep moving?" Leo asked after only pausing for a couple of minutes. But nobody complained. They all ran forward again and Ethan turned his head every once and a what looked like shadows slipping behind them. As they ran he tapped his fingers against the wood of his naginata behind him, ready to whip it out at the first sign of trouble.

At the pace they ran, it didn't take much longer before they dropped down the steel stairs at the side of the building and into the alleyway with the thick metal door that indicated they had made it to the meat locker. They all met eye contact, nodded as a silent way of saying: "Let's do this." And then they opened the door to the back.

Immediately they were immersed in glowing red. A portal gateway stood ready, swirling and emitting mist. Ethan couldn't help but notice that it didn't look like the typical triangular pink gates that the Kraang used. This one looked like it had no shape – it shifted and morphed like a living thing and it was the color of deep crimson with distant twinkling in its midst. Ethan didn't like the feeling he had looking at it.

Standing next to it was Bishop, tall, black sunglasses covering his fake eyes and a trimmed pinstripe suit covering the Utrom body that hid behind it. "Good to see you here, Leonardo, Michelangelo, Donatello, Raphael, Jessica, Kaela, and Ethan." He went through them like a checklist and he motioned to the portal. "This is going to be your first step to finding Hamato Yoshi."

"That portal goes to the void?" Raph asked, pointing at the red morphing portal in front of them.

Bishop shook his head, "No. The void has no door to it as it was a place never meant to be traveled to. This is the Dimension of Fear."

"Pleasant name." Jess remarked folding her arms across her chest.

Bishop nodded. "Indeed. In this dimension is a demi-god by the name of Connive. He is a part of a family of higher beings known as the Pantheon who have been known to interfere with this dimension as well as others for personal entertainment and to exercise their power. He is the owner of an artifact known as the blade of ages – a dagger that can cut through the fabric of dimensions. Your mission is to collect it."

As they listened Ethan felt his mouth dry and he turned at the sudden sound of metal against metal. The door was open slightly and Ethan couldn't help but feel that they had shut it behind them.

"A god?" Kaela asked weakly. "That sounds an awful lot like a suicide mission to me."

"It is the only way." Bishop said. "That dagger is the only way we will be able to find Hamato Yoshi. The question you must then ask is what you are willing to sacrifice to get your old master back."

"Anything." Leo quickly responded.

Bishop nodded solemnly. "Then acquire the blade of ages. Once you've accomplished this, then we can locate a thread of the fabric between dimensions, cut it open and retrieve whatever remains of him."

Ethan didn't like the sound of that either.

"Anything else that we should know?" Donatello asked, tapping his fingers together.

"Good luck." Bishop said adjusting his glasses and motioning to the portal.

The seven looked at each other.

"Team effort." Ethan said smiling.

"We got this." Mikey agreed with a grin.

"For sensei." Raphael agreed.

Then the seven of them turned and made their way into the gate, vanishing out of site.

Bishop nodded after the seven figures had vanished and then reached for his control panel on his arm to close to the portal behind them. "The portal will close in five seconds." The voice from his panel declared robotically.

"Hold up!"

He turned at the sudden voice and suddenly felt something smash into his metal body and he fell forward but recovered quickly, spinning with is legs on the ground and righting himself, adjusting his tie.

Bloodmaw and Ashina, a wolf and hyena mutant had appeared from behind some of the metal tools in the room. "Who are you?" Bishop asked skeptically. But they didn't answer. Instead, they jumped headfirst into the portal. "Stop!" Bishop cried, bursting forward and reaching for them but they had already vanished into the portal just as it closed.

At first it felt like passing through liquid, but then it felt like the drain had been pulled. Ethan struggled against seemingly nothing, swiping at the vast red as he was thrown backward and then forward. It was difficult to breath. Then all at once it was like someone was trying to shove him into a hole much too small for him and then black ground was running up to meet him.

He slammed into the darkness and groaned, but was happy to feel air in his lungs again. From the moaning coming from other side of him it seemed that they had all made it to the Dimension of Fear. Ethan turned his head to see what looked like Jess coming into focus. "Jess, where—." He stopped immediately when he realized that Jess was a white fox and what was beginning to take shape in his vision was almost as black as the ground they were lying on. Now he recognized her. "Ashina!" he hissed, pushing himself off from the ground and righting himself. He stumbled into Raphael who was getting up as he saw both Ashina and Bloodmaw in front of him. "Where did you guys come from?"

"And why the heck did we do that?" Bloodmaw snapped at Ashina. "Seven to two? There is no freaking way this could have ended well." The hyena was clearly enraged and he slapped at Ashina as she stood up.

Ethan no longer was finding much interest in either of them as now he could see his surroundings. It was enough to stare at for days and still be confused. The ground that they were on was black, rough, like some kind of deep colored dirt. The sky was as deep a red as the portal by which they had gotten in. The air was clammy and cold. The darkened, red sky tapered off on a craggy, rocky horizon. But directly in front of them and seemingly going on from where they stood all the way to the horizon line was a vast, multicolored playground. It stretched to their right and left seemingly forever and weaved around and behind them, leaving them in a boxy square of black dirt. Ethan could see slides of every color and plastic looking rock walls and swings that seemed to drop off into nothingness. "What in the world." He said spinning to get a good look at everything.

"What the heck is this?" Jess asked as Raphael helped her to her feet. She had said it unnecessarily loud the moment Raphael's hands went around her arm as if she was trying to distract herself from something. Leo was fingering one of his katanas as Kaela and Mikey straightened themselves. Donatello was already examining a nearby yellow tunnel of plastic with large orb glass windows like blank eyes.

"It doesn't seem unusual." Donatello said. "It almost seems like it's just plastic."

"What's unusual isn't the material Donnie." Kaela said with a smile. "I think they are referring to the fact that the Dimension of Fear is a huge, giant playground."

"Oh, right."

Ashina had dusted herself off.

"You came to fight us?" Ethan asked, turning his attention back to them.

"Well…" Ashina said slowly, but she gave a smirk in Ethan's direction. "Sort of. I mean killing you guys would be a great bonus."

"We can take both of you in our sleep." Raphael scoffed. "Bring it." He had pulled out his sais but nobody seemed to be paying attention to them as suddenly a clap of thunder sounded.

"Look!" Mikey pointed at the sky. "What is that?"

A strange blank liquid was pooling from the sky like rain, but as it dropped it seemed to freeze in mid air, forming something that slowly began to take a murky shape. Finally, after a few moments of stunned starring, a man had formed in front of them. He was balancing on nothing but air by his long white index finger tipped with a claw painted black. He was looking at them upside down, a large black top hat on his white hair. One eye was pure black, the other, milky white. He had a large collar checkered black and white that ran into a tight, dusty suit. His pants were colored black and white and his shoes were flat and pointed, curved into wicked silvery blades.

"Well, this can't be good." Leo said lowly.

"Lookie, lookie!" the man cackled, his voice high pitched as he seemed to push off of nothing with his finger and spun in the air until he was floating, Indian style, in front of them, his top hat slightly askew. "I have the famous Hamato Clan members here!" he looked and gave an overdramatic fake gasp. "And the Shinotomo Club too! It's like meeting a bunch of celebrities!"

"You must be Connive." Donatello said.

Connive turned to look at him, "Smarty pants Donnie! Yes, that is the name I go by in most dimensions." He said with a grin showing glittering, perfectly straight teeth.

"How do you know us?" Raph asked, his sai at the ready.

"When my brothers and sisters get together for a movie night we tend to love your dimension. The drama between the Hamato and Foot Clans is just too good! And now with the Shinotomo Clan running back into the game – that's just too good." His dark eye swiveled slightly like it was bobbing in his head as he turned to look at Bloodmaw and Ashina. "And let me guess, you are all here to get my blade of ages so you can open up the Void and get your daddy back home."

Ethan felt the cold air grow colder. _How does he know all of this?_ Ethan suddenly felt like he was constantly being watched, not only there, but everywhere and always. Connive continued, "Except for the Shinotomo clan. You guys are here for different reasons! For you Bloodmaw, you're here because you have to be. You're afraid of your master." He grinned. "But, you – Ashina – that's what you call yourself now right? You are here for a very different reason, aren't you?" All eyes were on Ashina and a furry appeared in her eyes. Connive cackled again, "Don't worry, I won't reveal any of your big secrets." He then turned back to them all. "Now, how about we get started with the main event."

"Main event?" Kaela asked raising an eyebrow.

Connive tapped his nose wisely. "I consider myself an entertainer at heart." He said looking up at the crimson sky as if he was suddenly possessed by star power, his hand over his chest showing his black fingernails against the white of the material that covered his torso.

"If you're talking about kicking your butt, then I'm all about it." Raph said gritting his teeth into a grin, brandishing his sais in front of him.

Connive raised a thin black eyebrow. He then grinned and patted Raphael's head with his pale hand and everyone just stared on in disbelief. "Don't you worry you're stupid little head, Raph." He said. "I have sworn of fighting with those far beneath me. I tend to break my toys. It's all fun and games until someone gets ripped apart."

Ethan fingered at his naginata but knew it would be no use. Bishop that thrown them to their deaths.

"Not true." Connive said glancing in Ethan's direction. _He read my thoughts?_ Connive did a twirl in the air and landed on the ground with his two feet and like a magic trick he brandished his hand and a dagger seemed to appear from thin air in his spidery fingers. The handle looked like it was made from stone, carved with intricate designs and a long hand guard that twirled around the blade like a whirlwind. The blade itself was silvery and so polished that Ethan could see their reflection in it, the edge encrusted in something shimmery and red. "If you play good on the playground kids, then I will let you have this pretty butter knife." He said. "Find your way through to those cliffs." He pointed with one of his black fingernails at the horizon.

He then started to tap his foot on the ground as he glanced around them with obviously fake puzzlement. "Now this just won't do." He said. "There are so many of you! And certainly nine people can't go through the whole playground without becoming a big mess. So, how about I split you into teams."

Ethan reached out for his siblings but suddenly with a last cackle of Connive, the whole square of black dirt was covered in purple smoke. "JESS! KAELA!" He yelled but he heard no response. Wind blew around him throwing his fur in every direction and he felt his feet leave the ground for a few moments before he was suddenly crashing down again in a whirlwind of color and everything went dark.


	18. Connive and Conquer - Part 3

Episode 23: Connive and Conquer – Part 3

Ethan groaned. The first thing that tipped to him off to the fact that he wasn't dead was the throbbing in his shoulder. _I must have been gone for hours._ He thought, slowly pushing himself up. His arm felt numb, like he had been laying on it. He looked down at his hand to see that it was propping him up from a bright yellow plastic platform. Then, whirling around, he took in who his teammates were going to be.

Connive had not been so kind to him.

Bloodmaw and Ashina were both getting to their feet looking equally sore and disgruntled. (In Bloodmaw's case, enraged.) "Great." Ethan said quietly as he righted himself, pulling out his naginata just in case he had to defend himself from the Shinotomo clan. Ashina turned and her yellow eyes met Ethan's.

Bloodmaw turned with her and growled low, and although Ethan was sure he imagined it, it almost looked like the black pits of Bloodmaw's eyes expanded. With a thrash of his bristled arms he pulled out his tonfa and bared his sharp teeth. "Oh, stop." Ashina said rolling her eyes and crossing her arms across her chest. "If we want to have even the slightest chance of getting out then killing each other on this playground isn't going to help us much."

Looking like he had just been turned off, Bloodmaw's arms drooped to his side, although he still glared at Ethan from across the platform. He then snapped at his companion like a whip, "The only reason I'm in this stupid place is because you said it was going to be a good idea to follow them into the portal!"

"Bloodmaw, this place is about as far away as we can get from Lord Nightshade and so it's worlds better than where we came from in my opinion." She returned quickly. Ethan stood paralyzed, watching the two as they argued as if Ethan wasn't there at all. Feeling like he didn't have the patience to deal with his enemies, Ethan spun around and began to look at his surroundings.

It was all a maze of reds, blues, yellows, purples, and greens. Slides, tunnels, swings, and bridges stuck in random directions mazed around them like some kind of multicolored wall. Off in the distance he could see the black mountains and the horizon line that connected with the blood colored sky that rumbled with clouds that twisted and turned. More frightening however was below. Some of the slides seemed to jump off into nothing but a long drop into pure blackness. Whether that was floor far below or an endless pit was difficult to tell. Most immediately in front of him was a large suspension bridge that spanned over the darkness and then led into a tight tunnel dotted with glass bubble like windows.

Ethan turned back to the others.

"And what happens if we never find our way out? Heck – even if we do that stupid clown dude is going to probably try and rip us apart!" Bloodmaw shouted, showing his powerful jowls.

Ashina's lips were playing into a smile – she was enjoying this. "Well dying here is more exciting than dying at home. And besides, I couldn't stand watching that new recruit get trained for another second."

"If I wasn't smarter, I would think that you like the Hamato Clan. What – do you have a crush on that fox?" Bloodmaw had pointed an accusing finger in Ethan's direction.

"Obviously you _aren't_ smarter because he's a red panda, you moron."

"GUYS!" Ethan shouted.

The two stopped and glanced over at him. Ethan pointed towards the bridge, "Connive wants us to be a team and if playing by his rules means that I get my family back, then that is what we're gonna do." They both continued to stare at him so Ethan turned and began to stride across the bridge. He paused and turned back. They both were staring, Ashina with her arms folded across her chest and a smile on her lips. "Are you coming or what?" Ethan said motioning down the bridge with his naginata.

Bloodmaw sighed and turned to Ashina, "If we die here, I will never forgive you."

"That's fine."

The two then followed after Ethan.

"Wake up!" A voice seemed to call from down a tunnel towards Kaela and finally she managed to open her eyes.

"Crap."

She knew exactly who she had been partnered with the second she opened her eyes because they were looking down at her with a red bandanna tied around their head, difficult to see in contrast to the similar colored sky.

Raphael.

"What do you mean 'Crap'?" Raphael said grabbing her hand without her offering it and pulling her to her feet. From what Kaela could see they were in a large, walled blue bowl. Behind Raphael was a green tunnel that wound down. The blue walls blocked her from the black mountains. Kaela ignored the question as she shook her head. "Where is everyone else?" she asked.

"That stupid Connive dude split us all up." Raphael said. "Remember?" The second part sounded condescending and Kaela tried not to glare at the turtle who was now pacing near the opening of the winding green tunnel. He ducked down and peered into and then turned back to Kaela. "Well, we better get moving if we want to get out of this stupid place." He said.

Kaela ducked down her head and groaned silently to herself. _Of all the people he could have stuck me with, he had to put me with the one turtle that makes me want to scream sometimes._ She then pulled her head back up and walked to the green tunnel just as Raphael's red mask disappeared down it.

Jess was on her feet, her face in her hands. She had not expected this at all – and if she had she probably never would have come to the Dimension of Fear. She had woken up from a stupor first, and now she was staring at her teammate who still lay on their shell, their head face up, but their eyes closed, mouth agape like they were frozen in mid-yell. She had been partnered with Michelangelo. "Why me?" she muttered to herself. "Why Mikey?" They were sitting in a large bulb of purple, a few glass bubbled windows surrounding them and giving a view of the rest of the playground. A slide connected to the side of them that led out onto a large green platform. That was the direction they had to start. "Connive, why did you put me with him?" she asked as if the top-hat wearing fiend was somewhere close by. She didn't doubt that somehow he was probably watching them all.

Finally resigning herself to what she knew her life was going to be like for the rest of the day, she strode over to Mikey, and nudged him with her white, furry foot. He didn't move. She glared and clenched her fists and then kicked harder. He rolled slightly, tilting on the back of his huge shell, but still didn't make a sound or a motion. "MIKEY!" she shouted.

The turtle smacked his lips together and slowly blinked up at her with his wide blue eyes. "Hey, Jess." He said sleepily as if he had just woken up from a cat nap.

"Get up, Mikey." Jess demanded.

Mikey rubbed his eyes, messing the orange bandanna up around his head but he quickly straightened it back and got up on his feet with a sigh. Jess couldn't tell if it was a happy one or a tired one. He then turned and saluted Jess, his other arm straight at his side. "Yes, captain!" he said and then chuckled to himself, letting his hand fall down lazily to his side.

Jess gulped, trying not to cry out again. "Okay." She said. "We need to find the others as quickly as possible, so we are going to move and keep moving until we get to the mountains."

"Sounds like a lot of walking." Mikey commented.

"Follow me."

Mikey saluted again with a big cheesy grin on his face which was met by a groan from Jess and then the two made their way towards the large slide and back out.

Donatello and Leonardo glanced around themselves. They were standing near a large yellow swing set on one side and a pair of purple slides on the other. Deep in the distance was the rumbling of lightening that would flash across the bloody sky before vanishing over the mountains. "This is crazy." Leo said pulling out one of his katanas to be safe.

Donnie nodded and pressed at one of the devices he had fashioned out of Gameboy that detected odd resonances around him. The device was going haywire. "For real." He agreed. "And honestly, there isn't a whole lot I can do in this dimension. At least we have experience in Dimension X, but in this one, I can't really find a way through the playground with any electronic means, nor can I detect the others."

Leo turned towards the blackened horizon, the mountains coming up like jagged spines. "Looks like we are going to have to play this one Connive's way." Leo said, not liking it as he said it. But deep in the distant memories of his mind he could see the image of Master Splinter. He could remember the times he had received personal training from him, or when his siblings had managed to defeat him in practice. He nodded his head with determination and pointed towards the slides. "We need to start this way. If we keep moving towards the mountains then hopefully we can run into the others. If not, then we can make it to Connive and bargain our way to getting the rest of us back."

Donatello shrugged, "Sounds like a plan." He said as they both strode towards the plastic slides. "But something tells me that he isn't the easiest guy to bargain with."

"Why do you say that?"

"Why bother bargaining when you hold all the cards?"

Ethan's legs felt like paper as they continued to walk across the landscape of color and plastic. He had stopped counting how many slides they had gone over, how many bridges they had crossed and how many monkey bars they had had to climb through. His feet and his hands were sore and he was beginning to feel tired. The mountains had come closer to view until they were towering over them. "So, if we get there first," Bloodmaw was saying from behind Ethan, talking to Ashina but saying it loud enough to make sure Ethan could hear, "Then we get the dagger."

"Fat chance." Ethan snapped back.

Ashina was looking off into the distance as they walked, not really paying attention to either of them. Ethan kept his eyes on her. Her black fur caught the slight breeze and shifted around her. Her mouth was in a frown and her arms were folded across her chest. Her katar weapons were strapped to her back and would catch red light now and again. "So," Ethan said slowly, allowing himself to slow so he was no longer leading, but closer to Ashina. "Connive said something about you being here for a different reason."

"Mm." Ashina replied.

"What reason are you here then?"

She glanced at him and Ethan remembered the first time that they had met. She had looked at him with very different eyes that time in Shredder's mutagen lab. She had had a face very similar to Karai when she had attacked him. A face that spelt bloodlust – boredom – cunning. Now he saw something much more vulnerable there, although he couldn't tell what. She didn't answer his question, but turned back to the mountains in the distance.

As they continued to walk, Ethan fingered the naginata at his side. Bloodmaw continued to give shifty looks to the both of them as they moved. "You can't be serious, Ashina." Bloodmaw finally said aloud. Ethan and Ashina both turned to look at him. "You honestly are trusting this Hamato moron to help us? He's the enemy, and you're treating him like a teammate."

Ashina shook her head, her hand over her eyes. "Bloodmaw, are you serious? That Connive thing told us that we were to play nice on the playground. If we don't – who knows what will happen to us?"

Ethan heard the words, but he didn't believe them. There was something else that Ashina wanted and it was something Ethan could give her. He could think of no other reason why she would stick around this long save there be something else she sought. He tried not to think about any more of Ashina's possible hidden motives and together they slid down a purple slide. The mountains weren't far from them now.

Kaela followed close behind Raphael. They had found themselves at another dead end that led off a cliffside of rose colored red plastic into the black nothingness below. She could practically hear Raphael grinding his teeth as they were forced once again to turn their backs on the mountain and double pack to the last location they had been to – in this case a purple set of stairs that led back up into a tunnel. "It feels like we've been walking for hours." Raphael complained. He pulled out one of his sais and after a quick pin, stabbed it into one of the nearby plastic walls. "This is stupid!" he shouted. He lifted his head up to the bleeding sky with swirling black clouds. "Connive! Come out and let me wail on you for a few seconds!"

"Shh!" Kaela hissed putting her hand over Raphael's mouth. He quickly shrugged it off by brushing his hand across his front purposefully. "I would love it Raph if you would just stop threatening the demi-God that put us here. Is that too much to ask?" She had tried to keep the venom off the edge of her sharpened words, but she knew it had all been in vain by the look on Raphael's face.

"Look, princess, I never even wanted to be here!" Raphael said, collapsing on the red ground, his shell thumping against it and bouncing him a few inches from the ground.

Kaela felt ready to slap Raphael across the face and she geared up for it, clutching her ribbon dart in a black, furry fist. "Then why did you come? Just to mess with us and your brothers?" she asked. _Do you find joy in making everyone's life miserable with your constant complaining and abrasive attitude?_ She continued in her head.

But things had suddenly changed. Things had gone quiet and Raphael had turned his head away from her. He was looking down at the ground, his weapons limp in his hands. Kaela could only see the top of his head and the long red bandanna ties that had been worn down hanging over his shell. She went rigid when she thought she heard the sound of a sniff.

"I miss Splinter."

The words floated uncomfortably in the air for a solid few minutes as Kaela tottered from one foot to the other, not truly sure what else to say. "It just sucks, y'know." His voice had become more like a low hum and Kaela moved closer to hear it better. "We saved the world, we stopped the Triceratons from using the Black Hole Generator and it still feels like we lost." As he spoke his words shook.

Kaela stepped forward until her feet were near Raph's shell and then she slowly stooped down and put her hand on his shoulder. "I miss Master Hamato." She said, her tail curling behind her and her ears drooping down. "We only knew him for a couple of years – but he is the closest thing we have ever had to a father, and we needed him." Kaela said.

Raph turned to look at her and smiled. Kaela returned it. "But there's a difference." She continued, "I know that Hamato Yuta is dead. We saw it and felt it. Especially Ethan. But Splinter could still be alive, and whether he is or not, we are going to find him." She said with a confident nod.

Raphael nodded. "Then we'd better get moving." He said, groaning as he stood back up. "Let's back track a bit." With that, the two stood up and made their way back out of the rosy red dead end and to the purple stairs.

"Do you think the others okay? This world is just so crazy weird! Geez, this is boring – I hope we get to fight Connive or something by the end of this. Do you think Splinter's alive? You like Mako don't you?" Jess pinched the nerve at the top of her nose as Mikey continued to talk. _It's like he never stops._ "You do like him!" Mikey said as they strode down a pair of slides, holding on the side to steady themselves. Jess dug her claws into the side just to try to get the raw aggression out of her body. "That is so adorable! Do you think that you'll end up with him? I always thought you liked Raph to be honest."

"Mikey!" Jess finally snapped, turning to him, her tail going rigid with anger. "Are you done?"

He grinned sheepishly and shrugged his shoulders. "Are you not much of a talker?" he asked.

Jess groaned and slapped her hand over her face as she jumped from the slide and continued to walk towards the distant horizon of mountains. "Look, I just want to find the others, get the dagger, and get the heck out of his place." She said. "And honestly, you talk a lot – it's like it is your personal goal to annoy me as much as possible." The moment that the words slipped out of her mouth she saw the hurt on Mikey's face. He looked down at the ground and fidgeted his feet, his hands coming out in front of him nervously. Jess sighed and strode over to him and patted the side of his arm. "Sorry, Mikey. I shouldn't have said that." She said.

"No, I get you." Mikey said. "My brothers sometimes say the same thing."

Jess deflated inside. This was something that she knew – and not necessarily something she had tried to stop at all. If anything she had joined in on a lot of the teasing. "I guess it's just how I deal with things." He continued, "I mean, I can honestly remember the days before Shredder came. We always just had fun in the lair – skateboarding, playing video games – life has gotten so serious though. I mean, we deal with creepy dudes every day. So, I guess it's just nice to laugh instead of worry so much."

Jess let her hand drop to her side.

Mikey made sense to her now.

"I wish I could cope with things as well as you do." She said to Mikey offering him a smile. "Honestly, I never really knew that was why you did stuff. I thought you did it just to be you."

"Well, honestly, I do do things just to be me, because being me means that I do things that make me more like me. I never do things that aren't like me." He grinned.

Jess hadn't followed the sentence at all and she chuckled. "C'mon Mikey." She said. "Let's go find everyone else." The two began walking again, the mountains drawing nearer and nearer. "And I dunno how I feel about Raph or Mako." Jess was surprised that of all people she had confided that to Mikey, but it made it feel less like she owed him.

"That's okay." Mikey said. "They both are good dudes."

Jess smiled.

Donatello and Leonardo continued to walk slowly across a rickety bridge with spaces in between each plank that were much too large for comfort. The darkness underneath it looked endless. "How deep do you think that is?" Leo asked, not actually wanting to know – but not wanting the silence either.

"Possibly endless." Donatello said his voice trembling. They made a few more long strides across the bridge and landed on a wobbly yellow platform. They were now in the shadows of the mountain. Leo could actually see the end of the playground and this filled him with elation.

"Things go so fast, doesn't it?" Leo finally said, his thoughts were flooding with everything that they had gone through – Karai being particularly prevalent in his head.

Donatello turned to look at Leo, the Gameboy like device beeping steadily at him, the egg beaters he had attached to the top were spinning and the lights on the top were flickering. "What do you mean?" he asked.

"I dunno," Leo said, "I just feel like it seems like yesterday that we got back from space and already all these crazy things are going on with the Foot, that new clan, Karai and Mako…I just feel like we are on the edge of something huge."

"If you're right, then I hope Master Splinter is alive – because I don't think I'm ready to face any of that by myself." Donatello said looking back down at the screen, but not really looking at it at all.

Leo stepped up to his brother and placed his hand on his shoulder as comfortingly as he could despite the fact that he too felt that way. "We can do this." He said more to himself than to Donatello but his brother smiled at him and then they continued across the wobbly platform and up a blue slide to the edge of the mountains.

Ethan sighed with relief when he saw the end of the playground. Just up a slide was solid ground – black as night. "Finally!" He said making his way up, glad that through the whole playground he didn't have to fight the Shinotomo Clan at all.

"Wait!" Ashina grabbed his arm to stop him from going up the slide.

 _Spoke too soon._

"For all we know, Connive could be waiting at the top to attack us." She said.

At the mention of that, Bloodmaw pulled out his tonfa. Ethan nodded and prepared his naginata as Ashina placed her katar on her arms. "Alright, we're right behind you, fearless leader." Ashina said with a whole bottle of sarcasm coating her words. They made their way up the slide only to find that there was nobody at all there.

The mountains were directly in front of them, spiny and craggy like they were made of blades. The sky had gone an extra shade darker of red. "Nobody here, huh." Bloodmaw said. "If we are stuck here, I'm gonna beat down on everyone." He said glancing at Ashina with a glare. Ashina rolled her eyes at him.

"No wait!" Ethan pointed to the far side of the black clearing. Leonardo and Donatello were making their way up a pair of plastic, grid marked red stairs. "Good to see you guys!" Ethan called waving to them.

"Ethan!" Leo waved back.

"Guys?" Ethan heard from the opposite side the sound of Jess. Her white head and green bandanna poked up over the edge of a balcony platform and she climbed her way up quickly, Mikey right behind her. Ethan winced and tried to keep a laugh in. _That must have been an adventure for Jess._ He thought to himself. "We made it!" Mikey cheered as they joined the circle. "Good to see these two didn't kill you Ethan."

"We thought about it." Bloodmaw growled.

"They're all here!" Another voice from the back showed that Kaela and Raphael had arrived.

Ethan breathed a sigh of relief as he joined his siblings and put his arms around each of their shoulders. "We're alive." Kaela said smiling at the two. "That wasn't so bad."

"Everyone!" Donatello cried, pointing to his device that was running at top speed now. "I think Connive is—." A clap of thunder ended his sentence and suddenly black ooze began to drip from the sky as it had done once before, slowly forming the man they had met before, only now he was standing on solid ground with his bladed shoes.

"Congratulations! Huzzah! Well Done! Commendable!" he cried out like an announcer, straightening his top hat. He began to clap and it was like a chorus of invisible people had joined in. "You made to the end and it was such a privilege to watch your adorable bonding."

"Alright." Leonardo said, "We did what you asked. Now give us the Blade of Ages."

"Hold onto your shell, Leo." Connive said waggling his finger at him like a parent disciplining their child. "You weren't the ones who got here first. The dagger belongs to these three." He pointed his black pointed nail at Ethan, Ashina, and Bloodmaw.

Bloodmaw grinned. "Give it here then. All three of us earned it – I want it." He put his hand out.

Ashina pushed Bloodmaw back. "Ethan earned it." She said. "Not you." She turned to look at Connive, arms across her chest. "If you were watching then you had the privilege of hearing this one complain the whole way." She said.

"We'll compromise!" Connive flicked his wrist, the enchanted looking blade spinning out of the air and landing in his palm. "We'll give it to you." As he said it, Ethan heard something else in his voice. Connive gave a look to Ashina that she returned, something cold in her eyes, her mouth falling slightly open. He strode past the others and put the dagger out for her to take.

"Are you serious?" Raph asked, stepping forward. "You're giving it to them? Do you even know some of the horrible things that group has done in New York."

Connive turned to look at Raphael, but his voice had gone lower, his smile gone. "Yes, Raphael." He hissed. "I know all of the horrible things the Shinotomo Clan has done to your world through the ages. Do you?"

Ashina snatched the blade from Connive and like a switch had been turned the demi-God was grinning again, his voice as high as ever. "That puts some options in your court, Ashina!" he said cheerfully. "Now, it's been fun, but I don't want you to overstay your welcome in my world." He snapped his fingers and a portal appeared – this one was familiar. It was in the shape of a triangle and was the pinkish color that Ethan was used to seeing when headed to Dimension X.

"Breathing units." Donatello rummaged through his bag and pulled out a small box for each individual with a long cord to place in their mouth. As he passed them out, he paused at Ashina and Bloodmaw. "I did bring spares in case one of these breaks." He said.

"For real?" Raph asked. "Connive-dude, can't you just send them back?"

"What fun would that be?"

Donatello placed one of the breathing units in each of their hands. "If you break these, you owe me thirty dollars for each of them!" he snapped.

"And I'll beat the living crap out of you." Raph added, "For interest."

Bloodmaw growled as he placed the cord into his mouth and Ashina followed suit.

"Off you go!" Connive called after them as they walked up to the portal he had generated. "And don't worry!" he called. "I am sure we haven't seen the last of each other."

With that ominous goodbye the crowd made their way through the pinkish hue and vanished into the horizon, the gate closing behind them.


	19. Behind the Crystal Door - Part 1

Episode 24: Behind the Crystal Door – Part 1

 _What is this light in my eyes?_ Ethan felt dizzy. He saw nothing but white crystalizing and spinning around him. He couldn't tell if his eyes were open or not. He tried to move but couldn't feel his arms or his legs and he wondered for a moment if he had limbs at all or not yet. He coughed and heard the hack in his ears. He was alive and awake.

Suddenly hazes of color and shapes began to appear around him and a voice was echoing in his ears. "Wakey, wakey, stupid mutants." The voice echoed around him and sounded familiar to Ethan. He could see a pinkish color in front of him. "I don't have all day." The voice called again, this time the fake kindness was gone and his eyes focused in on a pinkish bulb in front of him, squashed in a large metal suit and grinning with sharp teeth and green eyes.

"Subprime." Ethan hissed through his teeth.

"That's right you idiotic furry!" he cackled one of his long robotic arms slapping at Ethan's face. He looked around himself and found that he was bolted to the wall by huge metal bracers on his ankles and wrists wired with some kind of power conduit, pink in color like everything else in the chrome metal room they were in. Bolted next to him were Jess and Kaela flanking him and then the four turtles, their eyes still closed.

"Don't pay attention to the other guests, just pay attention to me." Subprime's face was close enough to Ethan's that their noses nearly touched. Ethan glared at him and tried to think back to how he got to this place. He remembered walking through the pink hue, leaving Connive behind them and then suddenly – white. And now here he was. "How cute." Subprime mocked, "You are trying to work in your dumb brain how you got here! Well I ambushed your butts! That's how." He laughed triumphantly and Ethan desperately wished his leg was free and could kick Subprime in the face. Ethan suddenly froze, his fur standing up on end. _The Blade of Ages!_ Then he realized with another look that neither Ashina or Bloodmaw were there. His ears drooped – they had ran off with the only way to get Splinter back.

He turned back to Subprime. He was still ranting about his victory. "And guess what else I managed to find!" he said pulling out a glowing crystal necklace that was all too familiar.

"April." Ethan muttered under his breath. "What did you do to her!"

"Nothing!" Subprime said with a shrug of his metal shoulders. "At least not yet." He leaned in closer to Ethan enough that his horrid breath passed through Ethan's sensitive nose. "After your turtle friends here blew Kraang Prime sky high, I decided it was time to awaken a much more competent leader. And with him, we will crush your stupid planet. All I needed was a key to get him out." He pulled the necklace up until it glowed against Ethan's fur and glimmered in his eyes. "And once I'm done with that, I am going to rip all of you and your precious April to shreds!" He cackled and turned his huge robot body's back to Ethan and then with a few strides and the slide of a mechanical door, he vanished from the gleaming steel room.

Ethan felt pain shoot through his limbs as he gave them another burst of energy to try and get out of the bands – but it was clear – there was no way he was going to get out of this one. "Guys!" Ethan hissed, his voice scratching against his throat as he tried to elevate his voice. "Guys!" he yelled again and this time the others began to stir. "Wake up!"

With these final words, Jess and Kaela began to slowly open their eyes. The turtles were still unconscious. Ethan wouldn't be surprised if Kraang Subprime had done something special to them as an added punishment for all the trouble they had caused Dimension X. "Where are we?" Jess murmured, stirring only slightly and turning to look over at Ethan.

"I feel like garbage." Kaela said rolling her neck backward.

"That's because when we went through the portal we were immediately ambushed by the Kraang and brought her by Subprime." Ethan said urgently. The turtles were beginning to stir now.

"It was that dirty Connive!" Jess snapped, suddenly more awake than before. "He put us right into the hands of the Kraang. Some friend." Ethan wasn't sure if the accusation was true or not – but knowing the white and black demi-god who seemed to find personal satisfaction from watching them in all of their troubles, he wouldn't doubt it.

The turtles were awake now. Raphael was slamming his body with all his strength against the bonds that held him up in spread eagle. "Wow, dudes." Mikey muttered, "How did we get here?"

"Who cares how we got here." Leo said. "As long as we find a way out."

"It's worse." Ethan said. "Subprime kidnapped April while we were gone and they have her Aeon crystal as well."

"April!" Donatello whispered it like it was a sacred word, his eyes expanding to twice their normal size. "We need to find our way out of here!"

"Donnie," Kaela said softly, "You know as well as the rest of us that there is no way we are going to get through these bonds. Not easily anyway."

"So, we just sit here and hope something happens?" Jess asked.

"Shh!" Ethan hissed. He could hear something from just outside the huge steel walls. "Do you guys hear that?" he asked. Everyone grew silent and Raphael stilled himself from constantly beating against his bonds. There was the sound of yelling in the distance. Then it was replaced by an odd rolling sound, like a diesel at a construction site. The seven didn't say another word as the noises amplified.

"Dude, what if its—." Before Mikey finished his sentence the building erupted with noise, the whole room shook like a massive earthquake had just been unleashed on Dimension X and they all yelled as they rocked backward and forward, pink smoke bursting from the seams in the wall. "What is going on?" Mikey yelled.

"Who cares." Ethan said. "As long as it gives us a distraction to escape."

Donatello shook his head, his eyes scanning over the bonds around each of their hands. "There is no way I can get through these without my hands being free. And we can't cut through them with our weapons over there." He pointed by nodding his head over to the corner where a pile of their disheveled weapons were.

"So, again, are we just going to sit here and hope something happens?" Jess asked.

"Shh! I am trying to focus!" Donatello shouted.

They all sat silent, watching Donatello as he screwed up his face, his eyes closed in concentration. Before he opened his eyes again, the sound of blasters went off in the hallway. The slam of metal against metal echoed into the room and the door slid back open. "Um, guys." Ethan said quietly, "What is that?"

Standing in the doorway was a tall figure that looked like some kind of salamander mutant. By her feminine form, Ethan knew immediately it was a girl. She was icy blue, sporting a gleaming silvery armor. Her long tail was armored in the back with spikes and gripped in her hand was a long glowing neon blue blade with two long sharp prongs at the end.

"MONA LISA!"

Ethan whirled around – thinking the high pitch voice had come from Mikey but then saw in surprise that it was Raphael, a grin spread on his face, his eyes glistening like he was about to cry, his body leaning forward towards the salamander. "Why are we talking about a classic painting now?" Jess asked Ethan quietly next to him.

Ethan didn't respond as the Salamander was talking now. "Raphael!" She said with a smile. "It has been far to long."

"What are you doing here Mona?"

"Agent Bishop informed Commander Gathraka and I that you had been captured by the Kraang after they found her life signatures in Dimension X. We came to rescue you. Agent Bishop is attacking the walls outside."

She strode across the room towards them.

"I think Mona is her name." Ethan said looking over at Jess.

Jess gave him a look like he had just spoken gibberish.

With a few quick swipes from her blade, Raphael fell from his prison in the air and backward. Mona caught him and before Ethan, Jess, or Kaela could react, they pressed noses together blissfully. "What am I witnessing?" Kaela said, her voice a croak. "Make it stop."

"Raph." Leo said loudly.

Mona let Raph down gently next to her and then stepped up to the other turtles, all business now and with a few quick, precise slashes of her unique weapon, the turtles each fell at a time. She then turned her gaze to Jess, Ethan, and Kaela. "Who are these mutants?" she asked curiously. "Are they your allies?"

"Yes." Ethan said before the turtles.

She turned to Raphael.

"They're friends." He said with a nod. "We can trust them, Mona."

She nodded, seemingly ignoring the opinions of the other turtles and strode over to Ethan. He winced as she made two quick, expert swipes and he fell to the ground, the salamander bracing him so he didn't hit the ground. He was just happy that she hadn't pressed her nose against his like she did Raph. A few moments later and Kaela and Jess joined the rest of the group. Another earthshattering slam sounded just outside and more pinkish smoke billowed through the cracks of the building. "It is not wise for us to remain here." Mona said, towering over all of them. "Bishop and the Utrom will smash through this wall any moment and we would due well to be out of their way."

"Sounds like a good idea." Donatello said, pulling out his tracker. "The Utrom are right outside the compound it looks like – so we better find April quick and get all of us out of here."

"How are we going to find April? This place is huge!" Raphael snapped back.

Mona stood next to Raphael. "Raphael is right." She said. "It will take hours to find your friend and by then Subprime will have made his way back here with whatever remains of his army to finish us off."

"We'll just have to split up and check every door." Leo said, arms folded across his chest.

"I have a better idea." Kaela said.

All eyes turned to her.

"Jess, you have powers like April's. Both of you managed to keep that spire of poison from hitting the ground." Kaela reminded Jess. "Do you think you could maybe try and find April with your powers?"

Jess shrugged, "I could definitely try, but I've never done anything like that before – I don't know it will work."

"It's worth a try." Ethan pressed, looking at his sister.

She gazed at each of their faces for a few moments as they silently watched her. "Okay." She finally said. Her eyes has flinched as she had passed over Raphael's face and out of the corner of his eye Ethan could see that Mona and him were now holding hands in the corner. He bit at his lip, hoping that Jess would be able to focus with something like that.

She closed her eyes and brought her hands up to her temples, pressing against them as if squeezing out her energy. At first her eyes were screwed up in focus, her fingers pressing hard, the black claws of her hands padded only by the fur on her face. Ethan glanced in Kaela's direction and she exchanged a look with him, her mouth in a weak smile, her shoulders shrugging. Nobody dared say anything.

Suddenly, Jess' eyes relaxed, she relieved some of the pressure off of her temples and her body straightened out of its scrunched up posture. A few moments later, she opened her eyes. "I know where she is." She said. "While I was trying to feel the place out, I felt April reach out to me. She must have felt me trying to find her." She smiled. "Follow me."

The group collected their weapons from the corner and then with a few quick presses of the control panel next to the door with help from Mona, they burst into the hallway, past the broken Kraang droids that had been taken out by the salamander and were off.


	20. Behind the Crystal Door - Part 2

Episode 24: Behind the Crystal Door – Part 2

Ethan ran at Jessica's heels, Kaela at his side. Behind him was Leo, Mikey, Donnie, Raph, and right next to him, shoulder to shoulder, was Mona Lisa. Ethan's feet were burning and his shoulders ached from being hung from the wall, but he ignored it – knowing that they needed to find April before it was too late. The whole building shook again and yells could be heard from outside. "We better hurry before the Utrom take this whole place down to get us." Ethan shouted over the sound of their pounding feet.

"We aren't far!" Was all Jess called back.

Kaela gave a pointed look in Ethan's direction. "Let's hope your powers are like…for real." She called up to Jess.

"What about the dagger thingy!" Mikey said from behind them.

"After we get April we'll find those Shinotomo Clan members and get he dagger. Even if we have to force it off of them." Leo said.

"Which is likely." Donatello added after.

Jess spun around the nearest corner, nearly losing her footing as she did so and they followed close after. She paused at one of the nearby doors. "She's in here." Jess said.

Mona Lisa pushed past them, Jess glaring at her as she did so and with a quick few pushes of buttons on a nearby panel the door slid open as smooth as ice. Looking past Mona Lisa, Ethan could see the room was small but with large windows that showed the sour pink colored sky. The glimmer of the odd crystal foliage of Dimension X glanced light across the glass. At the center was April O'Neil, laying on her back, struggling against bonds that held her to the table. Her red air shone like fire in the otherwise silvery chrome room.

"Finally!" April called as they made their way in.

Donatello shoved everyone out of the way to make it to the table. "April! Don't worry! I'll get you out of this in no time."

"Thanks, Don." She smiled at him as he immediately began working on her bonds.

Ethan fidgeted uncomfortably, not wanting to look in Kaela's direction. Donatello was taking longer than usual. Mona Lisa seemed to want to butt in, but it was clear that she was trying to show restraint at pushing everyone out of the way again. The building shook again and this time Ethan could see a pale blue beam burst from the ground below and slam into the side of the building. Striding over to the glass wall, Ethan peered down. Armies of pale blue robot bodies were gathered with cannons and guns. Amid them were the pink of the Kraang that were shooting at them with black blasters of their own. At the far side of the battle field, Subprime was making his way into one of the drone ships.

"Almost got it." Donatello muttered under his breath.

"Donatello, how may I be of assistance?" Mona Lisa asked, stepping up next to him.

Ethan turned to Leo. "We will want to get out of here quick." He said. "Subprime is escaping and he is going to use April's necklace to release someone."

"You heard him." Leo said to Donnie and Mona Lisa.

"You got this." April encouraged her saviors.

With a loud resounding beep her bonds that had been clamped over her arms and legs released and April flung herself off the table and onto her feet.

Mona Lisa and Donatello straightened up. April gave Donnie a quick hug but did not do so for the large salamander. Ethan turned to Leo. "Alright, we need to stop Subprime next."

Without another word between the party, they burst back through the doorway, moving single file as they did so. A large, gaping hole had now appeared in the hallway from the last crash of cannon fire and it led directly outside. "Couldn't have planned it better." Raph said and they burst from the hole and down to the ground below.

Ethan rolled to soften the blow as he curled himself up, his tail flicking behind him as he jumped back up to his feet again. Subprime had boarded one of the drones and already the ship was powering up, pinkish beams of light coming from its sides in intricate patterns. "Bishop!" Ethan yelled.

Near the front of the line, one of the Utrom turned to look towards them, glasses glimmering in the pinkish sky and both hands gripping the handle of wicked looking blaster guns. Ethan sprinted with Leo by his side up to him. "It is so good to see you again." Bishop said matter of factly. "I didn't realize that Connive would transport you directly into the hands of the Kraang, otherwise we would have been more prepared for you."

"Yeah, well get in line." Jess said.

"Bishop, we need one of your stealth ships. Subprime is going towards something called the Crystal Door with April's necklace she got from the Aeons. We have to stop him."

Bishop's mouth fell open in the first expression of surprise Ethan had ever seen on his face. He did not like the looks of it. "You _must_ stop him." Bishop said, his voice grave. "Should those doors be opened, Dimension X and your world won't stand a chance against who is behind it." He pointed behind a line of the blue colored Utrom towards a ship that was sitting quietly. "Take that ship – move quickly!"

"For real. Let's move." Donatello said warningly, pointing towards the sky. The drone that Subprime had entered lifted up into the air. Ethan nodded and turned to the group that had increased in size again with April and Mona Lisa.

"Let's make our way there and then…uh…Raph's girlfriend…? You can piolet the ship." Ethan felt like an idiot ordering a salamander around, but at this rate, he didn't have time to worry about it too much.

"Now move!" Bishop demanded.

Without another second of hesitation the group flew through the ranks of Utrom drones who were still firing incessantly at the oncoming Kraang and their huge building which would continue to make crashing sounds and throw dust and smoke around them. As they made their way towards the stealth ship, Ethan's ears perked up at the sudden sound of familiar shouting. He skidded to a halt and Kaela and Jess knocked into his back, nearly throwing him off his feet. "What?" Jess asked.

Ethan spun on his heels and glanced past several rows of Utrom droids. A group of the Kraang had turned their attention to a new enemy – two mutants who had jumped down into the fray. The black fur and the half cut off ear on the other were immediately recognizable. Bloodmaw and Ashina had just jumped down in the middle of the Utrom and Kraang war. Ethan groaned and turned back to the others. "Mona, Raph, Leo, Mikey, Donnie, and April. You guys go in the Stealth Ship and get it ready to pick us up. Jess, Kaela, you two are with me. We are going to get the Blade of Ages from those two."

"You sure you guys can do that by yourselves?" Mikey asked nervously with the sound of more blasters going off around them.

"We got this." Jess said nodding. "You guys are probably better and piloting one of those things anyway." Without another word, they separated and sprinted in opposite directions. Ethan could feel his feet hurting underneath the hard metal structure of the flooring in Dimension X. Ashina and Bloodmaw were dancing about in circles, crushing Kraang as they went like a well oiled machine, yet both bore their teeth from the effort. Ethan burst past a group of Utrom droids and landed near Ashina and Bloodmaw. For a split second he realized that he had the choice to either attack immediately, or try and get them to just give the blade.

Although he gripped his naginata more firmly in his hand, he shouted over the sound of another blasting canon. "Hey! The Blade of Ages – we need it!"

Ashina turned after having plunged the pointed end of her katar into the face of one of the Kraang, leaving a nasty greenish stain on the end of her blade. "Oh really? That's nice to know!" She shouted as she kicked several more of the Kraang out of her range and swiped the arm off another, their blaster clattering to the chrome ground beneath them.

"Get us out of this mess and maybe we'll give it to you!" Bloodmaw shouted, snatching one of the Kraang with his clawed hands and ripping them out of their robot body before hurling them at one of their companions.

Kaela jumped from behind Ethan, her long slender tail whipping behind her from the velocity. Her ribbon dart sang through the air and slammed one in the neck, twisting around him and with a wrench of her hand the Kraang whirled off his feet and slammed into his companion next to him, smashing both of them. The metal of Jessica's kamas sang through the air as she slashed foes, twisting away from the blasts that were aimed at her and instead burning the metal bodies of more of her enemies.

Ethan twirled his naginata, slamming the Kraang away from Ashina and Bloodmaw until he was almost back to back with them. "Were you just waiting to sweep in and save us or what exactly was your plan here?" Ethan asked with frustration.

"For your information," Ashina jammed in her katar into the face of another Kraang, killing it instantly, "I was trying to convince my companion here that we needed to find you guys rather than abandoning you."

"That is because we are the only ones who know the way out." Ethan snapped back, cutting one of the chests of the Kraang and then moving his naginata into a more defensive position close to his chest to stop one of the buzz saws at the bottom of one their guns from cutting through his shoulder.

"Maybe." Ashina gave him a sly smile and a wink.

Before they could continue their conversation, the stealth ship of the Utrom landed amid the crowd of oncoming Kraang, crushing some of them and forcing others to retreat backward. "Let's go!" Ethan shouted, grabbing Ashina's hand, barely dodging her katar that would have cut through his palm. He half ran with, half dragged Ashina with him, Kaela and Jessica just behind him, Bloodmaw following close behind, shouting after them.

The ramp that led into the ship slowly opened, admitting them. One of the blasts of the Kraang struck Ashina in the arm and she yelped, grabbing at her wound with the other hand and stumbling. Ethan leaned down, taking more of her weight and they ran into the stealth ship, the ramp closing behind them. Several Kraang jumped grabbing onto the Stealth ship ramp but Bloodmaw made short and violent work of them until they were dead and thrown back down to their companions.

Mona was at the controls with Raph and Donatello. Leo quickly helped them in and turned to look at Bloodmaw and Ashina. "Great. Glad you brought friends." He said sarcastically.

April dropped down onto her knees next to Ethan and Ashina. "She's hurt." April said.

"On it!" Mikey grabbed at Donatello's backpack making his brother shriek. He rummaged through the pack, ignoring Donnie's complaints until he found the red first aid kit.

Ethan could see scorching on her black fur and an angry red of the burnt flesh beneath. "Are you okay?" Ethan asked her, helping support her back.

"I'm fine." She said, shrugging at his hand and keeping her eyes low to the ground. Bloodmaw watched with his arms folded across his chest. Mikey jumped down and placed the first aid kid on April's lap. April quickly went to work on her arm. Even when it was being cleaned with alcohol, Ashina only winced, but didn't make a sound. They all worked quietly but Ethan could tell that Bloodmaw was getting ready to shout at someone.

A few minutes later, Ashina's arm was bandaged with clean white strips. April quickly stood back up and smiled at Ashina. "Not totally sure who you are, but there you go!" She said enthusiastically and she returned to Donatello, gently putting the toolbox gently back into his backpack and zipping it back up.

"You dudes still have that mystic dagger right?" Mikey asked.

"Yes, we do." Bloodmaw growled, pointing at Ashina. "Why we are still helping you though is a mystery to me."

Ashina ignored his comment. Ethan helped her lean up again and she got onto her feet. Finally her eyes connected with Ethan's own. "Thanks." She said quietly with the smallest of smiles before looking away.

"You're welcome." Ethan said softly back.

"Everyone!" Mona Lisa shouted from the front, looking out of the glass. "We have Subprime on radar. We are approaching quickly. Prepare yourselves."


	21. Behind the Crystal Door - Part 3

Episode 24: Behind the Crystal Door – Part 3

Ethan quickly strode over to the glass and peered out into the vast pink of Dimension X. On the sour horizon Ethan could see that a stealth ship had just landed on a floating chrome colored island above them. The bottom was made of the same explosive jagged crystal that most of the flora of Dimension X was made out of. However, as they drew closer Ethan could see a massive door made of a very different colored crystal. It was as clear as glass and as light reflected on it seemingly from nowhere, rainbow colors would glide across its silky clear surface. The gate had to be ten people high with a burning keyhole in the center of it where the two doors met in the middle. Surrounding the gate were huge monolith walls made of chrome, like a giant metal box – or rather a cage.

Subprime had just landed on the edge of the little island and his ramp was beginning to open. As they drew closer Mona began preparations to land nearby. "I'm ready to fire the cannons!" Raph said eagerly as they approached.

"There he is!" Leo pointed as Subprime appeared on the ramp and slowly made his way in the huge clunky metal body that he used to the ground floor. In his hand was April's glowing Aeon Crystal.

"That's mine." April said darkly as they approached.

Subprime made his way to the door and didn't seem to notice in the least as they landed their own stealth ship next to his. "Let's fire this thing!" Raph snapped and he slammed his hand against the huge red button. With a resounding beep the stealth ship let out a blast of bluish electricity. It hit Subprime directly in the back and he flew off his feet and slammed into the crystal door.

"Wow. That didn't even crack it." Donatello hissed beneath his breath.

"Let's get out there. I want my crystal back." April said as she pulled the lever that opened up the huge hanger doors. Ethan looked awkwardly at Bloodmaw and Ashina.

"You guys should—."

"We aren't staying here." Bloodmaw snapped.

Ashina met Ethan's eyes, "And we aren't going to steal the Blade of Ages."

Ethan nodded, not sure at all why he was willing to trust someone who had tried to decapitate him before. Without another word, the party burst down the ramp and out onto the cool metal island, the crystal door overshadowing them.

Before they could take a step forward, a blast of pinkish hue missed Ethan's head by a hair, the air swooshing through his fur and slamming into the side of the stealth ship. It teetered on its side, black ash slashing across the side and bluish flames burst from its side.

Ethan ducked behind one of the large glassy bits of foliage as others vanished behind the Stealth ship and rock. "Come out mutants!" Subprime snapped. "You stupid, filthy creatures. I'll set you all on fire!" Subprime was moving again. Ethan could hear his clunky metal feet moving across the island – slamming against the ground. As Ethan perked his ears up he could tell that Subprime was not moving towards them – he was moving towards the towering Crystal Door. He turned to Jess next to him and she nodded, her own ears twitching.

Ethan looked across towards the stealth ship. April had her fists clenched.

"You're outnumbered." Leonardo called out to Subprime.

"Not for long!" Subprime cackled back.

"Move." Ethan said to Jess and they burst out, all four turtles, Ethan, Kaela, Jess, April, Bloodmaw and Ashina jumped out from behind their hiding spots. Subprime's face fell and then before he anyone moved, he turned and sprinted. The Aeon crystal glowed in his hand as he moved towards the towering crystal doors.

April jumped forward and began sprinting after him, Jess on her heels. "Give that back! It's mine!"

Subprime was near to the doors. He reached his long metal arm out and the glowing Aeon crystal vanished for a brief moment into the keyhole. There was a burst and a flash of light. "NO!" Jess and April both brought their hand up at the same time and the Aeon crystal flung from the keyhole, over Subprime's head and April snatched it from the air.

With a vicious growl, Bloodmaw leaped through the air and slammed into Subprime's metal body. He teetered for a few seconds with a shriek and then fell backward, his body sounding like a series of metal pipes had been dropped. Ethan stared at the door. A crack had formed in it's middle, but nothing else had happened. The doors did not swing open and the island grew quiet save for the groaning of Subprime nearby.

Bloodmaw stepped up to the body, slammed his foot onto the robots middle and reaching down with his claws he ripped Subprime from the home pod in the center and flung him across the island floor. He hit, his body sounding like someone had thrown Jello on the ground and he bounced before coming to a rest at the far end, hardly moving.

"Well, that was eventful." Donatello said, kicking idly at the robot body on the ground that had gone totally limp with the absence of its master.

Ethan turned, hearing another familiar sound behind them and saw a stealth ship landing next to the two that were already parked on the island, one of them up in flames. With a hiss and a blast of steam, the ramp descended and Bishop appeared with his signature sunglasses. Without so much as a 'Hello' he nodded towards them and then asked: "Were you able to retrieve your Aeon Crystal?"

April nodded, putting the necklace back around her neck.

Bishop nodded. "Excellent. That was a very real apocalypse that was averted." He adjusted the glasses on his nose and then turned to the Shinotomo Clan members. "You are the two that managed to get past me and into the Dimension of Fear." He turned to the turtles. "Shall I have them taken away."

"Sounds like a good idea to me." Raph said, folding his arms across his chest. "Hand over the Blade of Ages and let's toss em."

"No!" Ethan quickly said, not sure why on earth he was saying it. "I-I think they've shown that they are worthy companions. And besides, Connive gave the dagger to Ashina here." He motioned to her. All she did was raise an eyebrow at him. Bishop turned to the other turtles before resting his eyes on Leonardo. The turtle shrugged and Bishop nodded solemnly.

"Very well." Bishop said. "Donatello, if you could hand me your tracker, I can place a data chip in it that will allow you to locate the long strands of fabric that you can cut in order to reach The Void. I also located a world within your own universe that has multiple strands. We have prepared a portal for you."

"Sweet." Donatello handed over his tracker and Bishop quickly began working on it.

"Do you have a portal back to Earth?" April asked nervously.

"You aren't coming with us?" Donnie asked.

April shook her head. "No, since you guys have left, some weird stuff has been going down with the Foot. I think they are getting ready for something big. It's probably best if Casey, Karai, and I keep a close eye on what is going on. Then we can get back to you if something happens."

Bishop handed back the tracker to Donnie as the purple clad turtle gave April a quick hug. Bishop pulled out two portal projectors and turned one on. It opened in its usual triangular form, a pinkish hue glowing from its contents. "This leads directly back to Earth."

April smiled at them all one last time. "Good luck. I'll keep in touch." And then she had vanished into the wall of pink and the portal closed again behind her. Bishop handed this portal projector to Donatello as well. "Use that if you need to escape back to Earth again." As soon as Donatello had pocketed it, Bishop turned on the second portal. It was oval in shape and had an odd, murky green color to it. "You will need to be careful on this planet." Bishop said. "It is dangerous – but there are threads to cut with the Blade of Ages all over it. If you are careful, you will not run into any trouble." He said.

Ethan didn't like the greenish hue of the portal at all. It swirled and distant specs like stars glowed a sour yellow. He looked at Jess and Kaela before glancing back at the turtles and the Shinotomo clan members. "We're closer than we have been." He said. "Let's get to the Void and pull Splinter out so we can go back home."

"For Splinter." Leo said quietly – almost reverently.

Then the group descended into the murky green.

All first, all Ethan could see was the deep, grotesque color swirl around him. He felt warmth around him – but not he warmth of a blanket, but more like the sticky, uncomfortable warmth of something humid. A few seconds later he felt the familiar tug on his body like he was being sucked down a drainpipe.

A few seconds later, he hit solid ground – or something that looked like solid ground. The earth was an odd organic something or other. It was gold in color and seemed to give off a dull looking sheen. He groaned and lifted up his head to gaze around. The floor seemed to jar up into odd looking pillars filled with holes – like the hive of a bee. The sky was a miasmic green like the portal and at first it looked like odd black clouds were moving at a fast rate of speed, moving all around them. "What is wrong with those clouds?" He asked to the group that were all getting back to their feet.

"No!" Mona Lisa hissed as she helped Raphael to his feet. "I know this place."

"Unfortunately we do too." Leo said, dusting off his shoulders.

Donatello picked up the tracker that he had dropped and quickly turned the dial to on before gazing around them. His face fell.

"What? Where are we?" Kaela asked.

Mona Lisa grimaced. "Planet Sectoid One." She said. "The home of Lord Dregg."

Bishop stood quietly by himself for some time until at last he nodded and closed the portal quickly. The metal cap of the portal toppled to the ground and clattered against the glassy surface. Bishop stooped down and scooped it up, putting it in the pocket of his suit. A groan sounded behind him and Bishop let his gaze drop on Subprime who lay crumpled against the far rock. "B-bishop." He muttered, greenish spittle coming from his mouth. "Help me."

"You will pay for all of your crimes." Bishop stated matter of factly, looking down at Subprime. Bishop's hatred welled up inside him. The pitiful form of Subprime suddenly reminded him of the many pitiful Utrom who had suffered at this creatures hand. "But it is better that you suffer here alone until death claims you, than for me to bring you back for trial." He stepped away from Subprime and walked the expanse of the island until he had reached the Utrom stealth ship.

"Bishop!" Subprime called out. "Bishop, no! Don't leave me here! I surrender! I surrender!"

Bishop did not return however and a few moments later, the sound of the stealth ship could be heard turning on and then vanishing off into the distance. Subprime waited there, helplessly, hopelessly. He groaned and could feel the pain his body. Moving was impossible. He had come to the end of his rope.

Suddenly, another noise could be heard, echoing across the island. Subprime tried to turn towards its direction. The crystal doors gave off a colorful sheen as they slowly slid open. The crack in the middle of the door was widening until darkness seeped out across the Dimension X landscape. Subprime gasped with joy as the door slowly swung open. "It worked!" He coughed. "The necklace worked!"

The doors slammed apart with a resounding boom that echoed into the pinkish sky. The sound of electronics could be heard – an eerie beeping that echoed out from the vast prison. Then two pinpoints appeared – red eyes in the darkness. Metal footsteps could be heard growing closer and nearing Subprime.

"I have rested for far too long." A deep, electronic, echoing voice said. "Hundreds of years."

"I awoke you!" Subprime tried to pick himself up, but only managed to roll back onto his rounded torso. The little spindle he had for an eye adjusted and spun, trying to see the figure as it drew closer. "Kraang Prime died! He was blown apart by the Triceratons!"

"Ah." The voice said again, deadly and sharp – condescending. "The one who stole my name and took my weapons has finally realized they were no match for what the Ten Dimensions could produce. How quaint." A large metal hand appeared, black metal fingers showing age – green armor running up the large arms.

"The Kraang are looking for a glorious new leader! And – And I can be by your side to rule over Dimension X!" Subprime quickly offered.

A robotic head the color of flesh appeared, glowing, unblinking red eyes burning from its sockets. Its mouth was covered with a metal grid that tapered down into a large body of green armor, strong and powerful. In the center of the broad chest was a glass pane. Inside was the same kind of pinkish monster – but with black vengeful eyes and glittering sharp teeth.

"General Krang!" Subprime called out excitedly as the figure stomped out from the blackness of the prison. "I have returned you after a thousand years!"

The glowing red eyes leered down on Subprime. "So you have."

"We can rule this world together! We can conquer Earth!"

"You have already done what is required for _my_ victory." General Krang's voice had become deadly quiet. "Your place in this world is obsolete." Then before Subprime even had time to scream, General Krang lifted his leg and with a resounding slam, Subprime was dead.


	22. The Threads of Fate - Part 1

Episode 25: The Threads of Fate – Part 1

The sun was up and the glow of it shone through the glass panes of Shredder's domicile. He sat quietly in his chair, examining a piece of paper that had been presented to him from Stockman. The details of hundreds of Purple Dragon recruits ran down the line, each one describing the mutation they had managed to achieve and stabilize with them. "Excellent." Shredder muttered under his breath. He then looked up at the expectant Baxter Stockman who was buzzing quietly nearby, his wings fluttering like tissue paper. "And Don Vizioso. Is he complying as well?"

Quickly from behind Hun stepped forward. "We went to the location you told us to, Master Shredder, but there was no one to be found."

Shredder glared down at the paper, his fingers trembling and crumpling the page. "Keep looking then." Shredder snapped. Hun gave a quick bow, his sunglasses glancing light from the sun around the room and then he backed away until he vanished out the double doors. "Without Don Vizioso, my plan to take over all of New York must be set back slightly." He stated to the others listening in the room. "I had hoped we would begin our attack tonight, but if we are to truly be prepared, then we will want a few more days to get the proper mutant army. Double the amount of recruits we transform tonight, Stockman."

Baxter gave a quick nod and then buzzed out of the room, his legs hanging loosely beneath him as he flew through the air, his head twitching every now and then. "The quicker you can give me the mutants, the quicker I will be able to bend them to your will." Kitsune whispered from near his chair. She glided behind where he sat and looked out at the footbots and mutant servants that Shredder had employed who stood at attention on either side of the water basins that flanked the room.

"The Earth Protection Force will attempt to stop you." Kitsune continued, "If you are to be able to silence them, you will need more recruits with great strength and less expendables. Don Vizioso is unavailable. Who else do you know that we can use?"

Shredder glared up at Kitsune, his fingers gently tapping against the chair. "Tigerclaw!" He shouted. The cat quickly stepped forward, unfolding his arms from his broad chest. "Employee the bull and the bat mutant. I want you to find Mako. He will be valuable in my army."

Tigerclaw nodded, drew his guns and vanished from the room.

"Soon, Kitsune, this whole city will bow to me."

Kitsune narrowed her eyes. "To us."

Before Shredder could reply, the door slammed open again and both of them directed their attention to another buzzing visitor.

"I have news for you Shredder!" Lord Dregg grinned showing his pincer like teeth, his four green eyes glowing with excitement as he perched near the edge of the stairs, his long green wings folding behind his back. "I am going to end my mission once and for all and claim my victory over my enemies."

"What is it you speak of?" Shredder asked, narrowing his eyes.

Lord Dregg's smile widened as he tapped his claws together. "I just received report that multiple life forms just appeared on my planets radars. It would seem that the four turtles and the three other Hamato Clan brats have somehow made it to Planet Sectoid One!"

Kitsune scoffed. "And so you will return home to destroy them, is that right?"

"Exactly, fox woman." Lord Dregg said it with condescension. "I have already employed some of my assassins to take them out! With their help, by the time I get there the turtles and their friends will be ready to be ripped apart." He then directed his remarks to Kitsune, "And I will prove to you that I am not a being to be trifled with!"

"Then go." Shredder commanded.

Lord Dregg gave him a pointed look before his wings fluttered with irritation and he stepped back down the stairs.

"I will be interested to see if you are worth the time, Dung Beetle." Kitsune called after him as he walked down the long cement isle, the many eyes of Shredder's following him as he went. Then with a final booming noise, the doors shut behind him and Kitsune and Shredder were left alone again. Kitsune glared at the door knowingly. "Hopefully," she said quietly to Shredder, her lips only inches from the side of his metal helmet. "That bug will never return and the Hamato Clan will rid us of that creature."

Shredder turned towards her, his dark eyes staring up at her, the bloodshot one squinting against the light of the sun. "You have always seemed eager to watch that vermin perish." He said. "Why?"

Kitsune quickly straightened herself again. "If he kills the Hamato Clan, then we will have succeeded. But if he does not, then we will have lost a monster who is only interested in himself and what he can gain from us. Should he die – we will have lost a leech." She didn't speak to Shredder and he did not respond to her, but instead they both stood in utter silence.

"Planet Sectoid One, huh?" Kaela asked, spinning in a circle, her tail hanging limply behind her and her arms folded across her chest. "So, you've been to this exciting planet before?"

"Unfortunately." Donatello replied. "Lord Dregg lured us here once and tried to kill all of us."

"And you got your face stung so much that is swelled up like a balloon!" Mikey laughed.

"Not funny, Mikey!" Donatello snapped.

"Guys!" Leo interrupted, "We don't want to be too loud otherwise Lord Dregg's servants will hear us and then we will have a whole colony of bugs to deal with."

Ethan shivered trying to images of being covered in bugs from out of his mind. Of all deaths, that seemed like the most unpleasant. He looked around at the long goldish pillars filled with holes that reminded him of a bee or a wasp nest. The pillars tapered down to the ground that was similarly colored. He pressed his foot against it and saw it crack slightly, although it didn't fall apart. "Can we get the nerdy turtle to get us out of here or what?" Bloodmaw snapped, glaring at everything that his two eyes came in contact with. "I'm going to lose my mind if we stay here any longer."

Donatello glared in Bloodmaw's direction before leading out in the front with Leo, his old Gameboy tracker blinking and the beaters at the top spinning as they moved forward. Ethan couldn't stand this planet. The sky would go dark on occasion – not from clouds of water blocking the sun, but black clouds of insects. There seemed to be a constant buzzing that rang in his ears from the many wings that flew around them, but none seemed to haven noticed them as of yet or cared to come down and attack.

It didn't take long before Ethan's legs began to get tired from walking. He couldn't help but notice Raphael constantly scratching at himself. But each time he would do it, Mona Lisa would smile at him and slide her hand into his own which would cause Jess to move uncomfortably and to spend a lot of time looking at seemingly nothing up in the sky or down on the ground. Kaela would continue to give Ethan looks and then shrug.

"Are we there yet, we've been walking for hours!" Mikey groaned.

Ethan smiled with relief, knowing that he hadn't been the first one to break. Donatello paused as the sky began to turn from a sour green to a deep, dark brown color. He looked down at his tracker and rubbed at his chin as he looked over the screen. "I would say that if my calculations are correct we were dropped significantly further away than when Fugitoid landed us here. I would say that if I were to guess, the closest thread is actually near Lord Dregg's castle which isn't for another ten miles or so."

"Of course it is." Raphael groaned. "Why couldn't the thread be in just some random spot? Everything always has to be difficult for us."

"Don't fret Raphael." Mona Lisa said. "We will deal with whatever is necessary to retrieve your Father." She smiled down at him which almost immediately silenced him.

Leo spun in a circle, looking at their surroundings. "Maybe we should rest up over there." He said pointing towards a hollow spot where the golden ground seemed to come up in a wave and then crest making a makeshift roof. "We shouldn't be easily spotted and we can get some sleep that doesn't involve getting knocked out."

The group quickly walked over to the hovel, making sure not to be seen by anything. After a quick check from Mikey and Leo, they all bunkered in underneath the roof, the sky going from the murky brown to a deep black as night fell on Planet Sectoid One. Ethan was glad for his mutant eyes that allowed him to see in the dark better – he imagined that when he had been entirely human, he wouldn't have been able to make out a thing. Everyone was mostly quiet. Leo was asleep almost instantly with Mikey. Bloodmaw was in the far corner, his shoulder leaning against a wall, his eyes closed, but his breathing was uneven enough that Ethan knew he was still awake.

In the far other corner was Kaela's body, her chest going up slowly and then back down, her chin on her chest and her eyes closed. Ashina sat near Ethan. The place was cramped enough that her black fur brushed up against his shoulder. Mona and Raph were whispering quietly to each other just near the edge of the hovel. Jess was on the other side watching them. Ethan knew what she was thinking about. He had felt the same way watching Leo and Karai talk like that.

"So who is this Lord Dregg?" Ashina whispered to Ethan, breaking him of his thoughts like a rock against a glass pane.

He glanced at her from the corner of his eye. "I only met him once. He was some giant bug monster that seemed to have some kind of personal vendetta against the turtles." He whispered back. Ashina's eyebrows rose but she didn't respond and she slumped forward, her arms wrapped around her legs and her head leaning forward against them. He eyes glowed in the darkness like a cats.

"So, why exactly aren't you killing us?" Ethan asked suddenly. "I thought you were a part of the Shinotomo clan. You know – the one that was just as invested in our deaths as the Foot Clan."

Ashina snorted. "Don't feel so special. Lord Nightshade wants to kill everyone in the Foot Clan too."

"Really?"

Ashina nodded. "And frankly, I don't care about what Lord Nightshade wants. Not anymore."

"Why's that?"

This time Ashina turned to look at Ethan, "I don't really want to talk about it." She said only meeting his eyes for a moment and then she turned away. "I'm tired. I should get to sleep."

Ethan stared at Ashina, although her eyes were closed now. He couldn't help but feel something inside him. Something that reminded him of how Karai was as well when she had chosen to step away form the Shredder after they had removed a brain worm. He shifted his weight in the dark, trying to find a more comfortable spot where he could lay down, but his fur touching the sickly gold hive like ground made him wrinkle his nose and shiver squeamishly.

Mona Lisa and Raphael's whispers had died down and they were leaning against each other, their shoulders and heads touching, both snoring quietly. Everyone else seemed asleep save for Jess whose back was turned to Ethan and whose face was pointed in the direction of Raphael. For a few quiet moments, Ethan just watched and heard the tiny snores coming from every direction. Then very suddenly, Jess stood up and strode out of the cove out into the darkness.

Shaking the sleep that was trying to overtake him off, Ethan stood and stepped outside the cave. Jess was standing not far off. She was looking around the sky and then her face fell to the ground. Ethan slowly stepped up next to her. She turned to look his way before he was side to by side with her and then she quickly returned her gaze to the ground. "What's up?" Ethan asked as nonchalantly as he could, already knowing what was bothering her.

"Nothing."

Ethan wondered if he dared try to pry out anything from his sister.

"You sure?" He asked.

Jess didn't respond immediately.

"I'm fine." She said.

"You don't seem fine."

"Well, I am."

"This isn't about Raphael and Mona Lisa is it?"

"I dunno."

"What do you mean, 'you don't know'?"

Jess lifted her head back up with a low scoff under her breath. She glanced at Ethan from the corner of her shiny golden eyes. "Yeah, I feel like this is about Raph." She said. " A little bit anyway."

Ethan nodded. "I mean – I know you've had feelings for him to a degree, but I thought you really liked Mako."

"Mako? What gave you that thought?"

Ethan raised an eyebrow at her and Jess sighed in defeat. "Okay, yeah. I do like Mako, but I dunno, Mako is never around. I don't even know if he is…y'know alive."

"I'm sure he is." Ethan said. "Didn't you see how he threw around his two old friends? He would have probably taken them by himself if it hadn't been for Dregg. And I doubt he would just kill Mako. Lord Dregg always is stupid enough to think that he can use us before killing us."

"Or he spends his time talking to us _instead_ of killing us." Jess added with a smile.

Ethan chuckled quietly in the dark, "Yeah, he does like to hear himself talk."

The two stood quietly in the darkness for a few more moments, no wind, nothing but a slight murky green in the distance. Ethan turned back and could see the forms of all of the different companions they had acquired. The turtles, Kaela, Mona Lisa, and the two Shinotomo clan members barely stirred, their chests rising and falling in the quiet. "Maybe we should get some rest." Ethan said.

Jess nodded, "I think I want to think out here a little bit longer. I can keep the first watch. I'll wake you up when I'm ready to go to bed." She said.

Ethan patted her on the shoulder. "Don't bully yourself out here. Just let things happen as they happen. And don't worry about Raphael and Mona Lisa. Good things will come your way too." He smiled and then stepped back under the hollow. He leaned against the wall, trying not to think about how it was created and he quietly watched the dark silhouette of Jessica until at last his eyes slid closed and he fell into sleep.


	23. The Threads of Fate - Part 2

Episode 25: The Threads of Fate – Part 2

The next morning started early. Everyone was up before the sun had yet peaked – or whatever planetary light had appeared through the sour green color of the sky. They all stepped out from the hollow, Donatello at the lead and began again to walk slowly across the ugly yellow terrain. Again, clouds of black buzzed through the air. Ethan turned to Kaela as they walked, "I can't imagine the Void being a whole lot worse than this." He grumbled.

Kaela laughed, "Yeah, no kidding. I think if I have to keep hearing that annoying buzzing noise, I'm going to lose it." Ethan peered up past the other turtles to Donatello and watched as he looked down at his screen, biting his lip as the egg beaters on top of it whirled around and around.

They rounded a nearby corner and off in the distance Ethan could see something black jutting out from the ground like a large spine. Donatello paused and looked up at the black monolith and then with a sigh he nodded and pointed towards it. "I was right." He said, turning to the others. "It looks like the thread that we can use to cut in order to get into the Void is right on Lord Dregg's castle."

"Ugh, seriously?" Raphael asked, slamming the palm of his hand onto his forehead.

"We can handle this." Mona Lisa said quietly to Raphael and he was cowed almost immediately. Ethan rolled his eyes and without another word, the group was off again behind Donatello as he led them past large hives that buzzed with violent excitement.

As they drew closer, Ethan began to be able to see the large blackness looked similar to a skull with long, wiry wings spread out behind it, like some huge insect had planted itself on the black tower and began eating it up from the top down. Huge gates made of spiny black material loomed in front of them. "Cute." Jess commented.

Kaela reached out and grabbed Donatello's shoulder and he stopped and looked up from the screen. "I dunno if all of us just waltzing in is the best idea," she said, "I mean, anyone would be able to notice a giant group of people. We are basically a mini army at this point." She motioned to everyone behind her.

"She has a point." Leo said.

Ethan pointed at Donatello's device. "Do you know where in the castle the threads are?"

Donatello looked down at the screen and squinted with concentration. "I mean – I don't know the layout of Lord Dregg's castle incredibly well, I barely entered the thing last time we came, but if I were to guess, I would say that the threads are positioned within Lord Dregg's throne room."

"Typical." Jess said.

"That would probably mean that he is aware of the threads being there." Ashina added. "There's no way that is just a coincidence."

Everyone glanced in her direction with surprise but she didn't say more and turned her head from them, arms folded across her chest. Bloodmaw glared at her.

"I think the best plan of action then is if we all split into smaller groups and stagger our way to the Throne room. That way by the time we get there, we can all attack if needed. Maybe if we are lucky we can cut the threads and get to the Void before Lord Dregg notices."

"We aren't lucky though." Mikey said. "We always end up getting in a fight – it's just how we roll."

"Alright." Leo said, "The turtles will be one group. Kaela, Ethan, and Jess you will be another group. Mona Lisa, you go with Bloodmaw and Ashina."

Raph gave Mona one last parting hug, their fingers intertwined together for a few moments after as everyone else either watched awkwardly or turned and pretended to look at something else of deep interest. Then they nodded and separated into their groups. The turtles were the first to run into the dark of the gates.

"You guys ready?" Ethan asked a few minutes after they had vanished into the dark.

"Nope, but we're never ready for what's going to happen, so I have learned to just sort of roll with it." Kaela said, pulling out her ribbon dart. Jess adjusted the green bandana around her eyes and then nodded with a confident smile, her kamas spinning in her fingers.

"Let's go."

Without looking twice at Ashina, Bloodmaw, or Mona Lisa who were still crouched behind one of the pillars, the three ran forward, passing the long spiny beams and into the dark gates. The first two things Ethan noticed about the place was that it was eerily quiet for the buzz outside, and it was incredibly dark save for glowing orange orbs that were mounted up on the walls and looked like they were made out of something living.

It was like being in the belly of a giant insect. The walls, and the floor seemed to stir around them making Ethan sick and dizzy. But he didn't allow himself to pause long enough to think about it too much. They made their way down a long rounded hallway, quietly sneaking from place to place. Ethan made sure to tuck his tail behind him so as not to have it waving about as they hid behind pillars and in between cracks in the walls.

The whole place felt warm and wet in all the worst ways – like a stomach.

The three made their way up a pair of darkened stairs and down deep curving tunnels until they found themselves gazing out at a long deep hallway, a low glow coming from a far off circular arch. Ethan paused here and listened. He could hear buzzing again – the silence had left. He turned to look behind him and saw Kaela and Jess's heads poke out. Kaela's would have been impossible to see in the dark if not for her yellow mask and eyes.

Kaela leaned as far forward as she dared go and whispered, "I haven't seen the others behind us."

Ethan looked past her, hoping to see an inkling of Ashina, or the tall silhouette of Mona Lisa, but nobody turned the corner – the hallway was empty. "We should keep moving forward." He decided with uncertainty. The three crept forward but almost immediately Ethan put his hand up to stop them and with a quick flick of his wrist, he drew his naginata from its sheath on his back.

The buzzing had intensified. He gazed around himself, trying to pinpoint its location. It increased louder and louder and seemed to be burning at the edges of his ears. It was all around them. Then he looked up. The ceiling was a mass of wings and eyes staring down at them and the moment Ethan's eyes made contact with the flood of the ones above him, the insects began to drop.

Huge, green, with leathery wings. They towered over the three of them in height. Ethan had seen them before with Lord Dregg. "Vree." Ethan hissed. "Get them!" Jess jumped forward and with a solid slash, cut the arms off of the nearest on to her. It shrieked and slashed with a prying mantis like bladed arm forcing a quick retreat. Ethan spun out of the way of one of their green blasts that rocked the walls around them and with a spin of his naginata blade the Vree fell dead at his feet only to be replaced by two more.

They screamed and shrieked their pincers by their mouth spreading wide and showing a black gorge into their stomachs. Some had mandibles that dripped with something green and slimy. Kaela flung one out of Ethan's attacking range with her ribbon dart, slamming him into the floor, the metal dart pounding into his head and killing him instantly with a sickening splat. "Keep moving!" Ethan called, cutting through the crowd of Vree. Their wings buzzed around him and he worked his arms as hard as he could, parrying blows seconds before they cut at his fur and ducking under blasts of green energy that singed his clothing.

"Where are the turtles when you need them!" Jess snapped.

"Better yet, where are the Shinotomo Clan and Mona!" Kaela called back as she slammed two together with a whirling strike, her blue ribbon zipping through the air like water. Ethan dropped another Vree in front of him giving him a clear look at the hallway. They were making headway through the mass of insects.

"We almost got them all!" Ethan called back confidently as he felled another, stabbing his naginata through its chest. Jess jumped past one of the remaining ones and with a swoop of both of her kamas, the legs of the creature gave out beneath it and it crashed the ground without a scream. "Whew!" Jess said getting back to her feet and spinning the slime of her kamas. She looked around at the crowd of bodies and smiled in Ethan's direction. "We made pretty short work of that crowd." She said.

"Yeah, but we sure made a lot of noise doing it." Ethan added. "We had better get moving before someone else finds us."

"Someone like me?" An odd voice that Ethan didn't recognize echoed down the hallway and just as he turned to see who it was that had spoken, he felt an electric charge that made his fur stand on end and suddenly he was flying the air, slamming into Kaela and both of them toppling over reach other.

The same odd, high pitched, muddled voice laughed loudly. The way the sound reverberated through the creatures lungs made it sound like he had a bucket of phlegm in his way. "Racca, Racca, Racca!" It called down the hallway. With another blast of orange electricity, a dark figure appeared in the hallway.

"Is that a newt?" Kaela asked squinting at it. The creature was huge with a long tail tipped with a metal blade attachment. Around his body was metal armor that covered his shoulder, his wrists, and his middle. Something that looked frighteningly like Kraang tentacled were tied around his metal belt and his huge, bulbous unblinking yellow eyes stared down at them. Electricity sizzled at the ends of his fingers. Ethan couldn't help but feel that this new creature was similar – almost identical in shape to Mona Lisa.

"I thought I heard voices down here – and it appears that I was right!" The newt chortled, pointing one of his wrists at them, a glowing orange light coming from a barrel near the top of it. "So the turtles brought with them some friends! Excellent! That will make Lord Dregg even more pleased, Racca, Racca."

Ethan slowly stood up with Kaela, Jessica offering them both a hand.

"That's right, stand back up and come with me." He said grinning and showing nubby, gritty teeth. "You don't want me to have to kill any of you – and if you don't come, I'll tell Armagon to eat one of the turtles heads clean off."

"No thanks." Ethan said, dusting off his shoulders as the fur bristled in anger. With a swift slam, he felt the wood of his naginata slam into the side of the monster. He stumbled backward, taken off guard by the sudden strike. Another moment he was toppled over from Kaela's ribbon dart and he plummeted, his chin slamming into the ground.

Jess swung down her kama over his head but before it made contact as a killing blow, the newt fizzled and vanished into shimmering orange light. Jess landed against the ground and spun with her foot to keep her momentum moving, nearly losing her footing. A moment later Ethan felt his body slam into the ground, his chest flaring with pain. "Stay down!" A foot slammed into his back, pinning him to the ground and Ethan felt air blast from his nose and mouth in a cough that left him nauseous.

He could see the dizzy outline of Jess and Kaela coming to his aid. "I don't think so! Racca! Racca!" The creature licked at his lips as he lifted Ethan from the ground by the neck and holding him up. Ethan wrestled briefly, but his bones felt like rocks grinding against each other as he moved. "You'll follow me, or I'll burn the flesh of his bones." Ethan could feel a tingling rush through his skin and fur like an electric pulse was coming from the creatures hands.

He blinked at Jess and Kaela as they came back into focus. "Don't listen to him." Ethan managed to get out.

Jess groaned and sheathed her kamas. "Don't give us that save yourself crap." She said. "It's too cheezy."

"We'll come with you." Kaela said wrapping up the ribbon dart and sticking it back into her belt.

The newt drew Ethan's face up to his own and grinned showing his stub teeth again, his bulbous yellow eyes darting over Ethan's features as if he couldn't focus on a single object. Orange electricity sizzled at the tips of his fingers. "Excellent." He licked at his black lips again. "This was easier than I thought."

Ethan gritted his teeth, "Keep hoping, newt."

The newt's smile disappeared. "Now move." He hissed.


	24. The Threads of Fate - Part 3

Episode 25: The Threads of Fate – Part 3

As they walked through the dark, cavernous halls, the newt continued to hold onto Ethan's neck, lifting him a few steps up from the ground and squeezing if he ever tried to struggle. It was just hard enough to make Ethan stop immediately. Jess and Kaela glanced back at him as if awaiting commands, but Ethan said and did nothing. The light at the end of the hallway grew larger and larger until finally they found themselves at the edge of it.

The next room over was enormous. The ceiling was hundreds of feet above them and the floor sloped down into an amphitheater like area. The whole arena echoed with laughter and Ethan looked up to see a large throne that appeared to be made out of a living centipede with sharp mandibles and glittering legs. Lord Dregg was sitting in it, his wings buzzing behind him excitedly. In the center of the large theater area was a case of what looked like some kind of orange, semi-see through carapace. Inside was the faint outline of the four turtles. Standing next to it was what looked to Ethan like a shark in a metal body suit that matched – a shark within a shark.

"Well, this didn't go as planned." Jess muttered as the newt slowly pushed them out down the stairs and into the amphitheater.

"Excellent work my friend!" Lord Dregg called out. "You found the other stupid mutant creatures! That fool Shredder and the fox will regret ever mocking me for being unable to capture them."

"Great. The Newtralizer." Mikey's voice was muffled from the dome of orange, but Ethan could still hear it as they neared the bug-like cage.

Raph folded his arms across his chest, "So, I suppose them rescuing us is out of the question now, Leo?" he asked with sarcasm. Leonardo glared at him from the corner of his eye. The newt – _Newtralizer?_ Ethan thought – stopped them just as they reached the edge of the cage.

"Perfect." Lord Dregg laced his long, spindly, blade like fingers together, glaring down at them with his four luminous green eyes. He slowly stood up as Newtralizer pushed Ethan, Jess, and Kaela closer to the amber colored sphere. The huge, purple bug landed in front of them, his arms folded across his transparent chest showing organs covered with eyes and bugs crawling in every direction. Ethan tried not to be sick. Lord Dregg drew closer to them, his oddly shaped 'v' like mouth expanding as he showed pointed teeth in a grin. "Now, all we have to do is figure out which one of your corpses we are going to keep to show Lord Shredder, and which ones we get to eat, and lastly which ones I will throw to my Scorponoid."

 _Scorponoid? Wonder what that is._ Ethan thought sarcastically. He glanced and noticed from the corner of his eye that Donatello was working furiously on his tracker and then would glance up and look around the room before his sights returned to the monitor screen. He was trying to find where the threads were. The giant metal armored shark stepped forward, his fist the size of Ethan's head and Ethan flinched in his shadow. "I say we eat every one of the turtles." He said. "For all the grief they caused me."

"Then I get at least one of these three." The Newtralizer's cold, wet hand grabbed at Ethan's neck again. He gripped his weapon, trying to think of a way for them to attack. But no – not until Donatello was done. He glanced in that direction again as the three continued to bicker. Donatello was no longer playing with the device. Instead he was staring straight up ahead. Ethan followed his eyes and noticed he was looking right up at the bug-like throne. The other turtles had grown silent, their own attention there.

 _Finding it won't mean anything if we don't have the Blade of Ages._ Ethan thought looking up at the throne room as if there was something to see besides the disgusting, slowly moving throne chair. "We cannot eat them all!" Lord Dregg snapped. "I will not be trifled with and both Shredder and that stupid fox creature have mocked me long enough."

Ethan glanced around the throne room again, looking for anything that could help them. His eyes traced the side of the walls and up to the ceiling and for a moment he saw something dark move. He stopped. Something was up in far corner rafter near a slit of a window. A shape that he could barely make out. Then he could tell an arm moved – pointing towards them and Ethan squinted harder. With a resounding blast and a flash of blue light Ethan leaped out of the way, releasing his grip from the Newt. But he didn't need to – he wasn't the target. The Newtralizer shrieked and fell backward, collapsing on the ground as the beam of blue light hit him, sizzling his leathery skin. "What?" Lord Dregg exclaimed as Armagon turned to look at where the beam had come from.

Mona Lisa leaped down from her perch, another beam crashing into the top of the Amber dome, releasing the turtles from their prison. "Get them Armagon! Get them!" Lord Dregg snapped, pointing at the turtles and Mona Lisa. "RELEASE THE SCORPONOID!" He called out to the his Vree that flanked the walls, buzzing impatiently. "And kill those stupid mutants!"

Before the Vree had made their way to a gaping hole in the floor, another figure jumped from the shadows, slashing several of them with an expert spin. Ashina the wolf was standing there, her katar now dirtied in green liquid. Tucked in her belt was the Blade of Ages. "Well, don't just sit there staring at me." Ashina snapped as she flicked the blood from her weapons. She turned to glance at Donatello. "Where are the stupid threads?" She snapped.

"Up there!" Donatello pointed up with one of his fingers at the top of the throne. "Right above the head of the chair!" Ethan glanced at the horrifying black head with glassy eyes and long sharp mandibles watching the battle silently from above.

Ethan nodded and burst forward with the other turtles, but just as Ethan made his way to the foot of chair there was a hideous shriek and a black bladed tail slashed through the air and slammed down in front of him, nearly cleaving him in two as he stumbled back. Ethan could see glittering black like the chinks of armor unwinding in front of him and he felt his sweat turn cold. "That is a giant scorpion!" He managed to gulp out, feeling the words fall clumsily off his lips. With another powerful cutting slam the tail slit through the air nearly impaling Ethan a second time.

"Move, move, move!" Ethan could hear Raphael yelling. "Cut the threads and get us out of here, wolf-girl!" Ethan jumped up to his feet, dodging the tail for a third time as it punched a hole in the floor where he had been sitting moments before. He could see its black body with tiny hairs unfurling itself, a gaping mouth reaching out towards him. With a yelp he slashed at it's mouth with the blade of his naginata. He flipped backward out of the way, the creature screaming in anger at the unexpected attack.

Adrenaline pumped him forward and he began a long climb up the side of the throne room wall. His fingers found grooves in the material that felt more like honeycomb than it did like concrete and he shivered inside himself. But he couldn't care about that – not with a giant scorpion trying to impale him just below. He could hear the others below him and he prayed that his siblings were close behind him, but far enough away that they were out of danger from Lord Dregg's private army. With a final grunt of exertion he pulled himself up onto the platform and nearly fell backward over the ledge again.

Lord Dregg met him face to face and he immediately snatched him before he toppled over, pinning his arms and his naginata weapon to his side, the blades like claws of Lord Dregg cutting into his flesh and fur. "You thought you could escape me so easily you stupid mutant!" He hissed, something green and slimy slipping through the cracks of teeth. "Now I am going to devour you whole for defying me again!"

His purple mouth doubled in size, the teeth glittering around the edges of his gums, a sucking sound coming from deep within his throat. Ethan struggled and screamed, but nobody came to his aid. He heard his name being yelled from the distance.

Then suddenly he wasn't the one screaming anymore – instead it was Lord Dregg.

The giant insects entire body shuddered and trembled. "Wha-wha-w.." he tried to get words out and his body lurched again and this time Ethan saw a claw burst from his chest, dripping with a terrible black color. With a final wrench, the fist vanished and Lord Dregg fell to the ground motionless. Ethan toppled over, catching himself on the edge and he scrambled away from the creatures body. In his stead stood Bloodmaw, his arm dripping with the black from his elbow all the way to the tips of his claws.

Bloodmaw flicked his arm, the black splattering across the platform. "About time that disgusting roach made his way back to his chair." Bloodmaw spat.

Ethan glanced at the large bug on the ground – he was still, his four glowing eyes faded until they looked more like empty pits and the last twitching of his wings faded entirely. Ethan couldn't remember the last time he had seen something living die since Hamato Yuta. He turned away, not wanting to look anymore and gazed down below him. The turtles were climbing up the side of the large platform. Kaela and Jess were just below them, slowly climbing. Mona Lisa and Ashina were still fighting down below. The Scorponoid was lying on it's side, his legs trembling, a burn the size of Ethan's body from it's forehead down its side like a jagged river of red on its black armor. The Newtralizer was down still.

Mona and Ashina were fighting the shark who was moving furiously, his huge fists making contact with their weapons. "Ashina!" Ethan called out to her and she glanced at him briefly before returning to the fight, using her katar to slash at the large metal armor around the shark's wrist.

"A little busy right now!"

"The Blade of Ages!" Ethan shouted. "Toss it up here!"

Bloodmaw snickered behind him and with a quick spin of his hands, both of his tonfa appeared from behind him, the polished wood gleaming, the black horrible throne shivering behind him. "You think I'm just going to let you guys into the void? You gotta be kidding me."

Ethan quickly spun his naginata into ready position and lowered his stance. "C'mon," Ethan said, "You're not going to get out of this without us."

"Not how I see it." Bloodmaw said. "We are the ones who have the stupid knife. Once we finish you guys off, we can use it to get out of this hole."

"You and Ashina against all four of the turtles, Mona Lisa, and my siblings? Are you crazy?"

"A little."

Before Bloodmaw jumped forward with his tonfa, an incessant buzzing noise burst form the doors and Bloodmaw's arms slackened at his side, his eyes wide as he stared at something behind Ethan.

He furled around and saw a stamped of green bugs burst through the doors. The Vree were coming in torrents, moving wildly in every direction like locusts. Donatello was halfway up the wall but Ethan could still hear him calling. "The Vree are a hive mind! With their leader dead – they are going to go crazy! We need to get out of here now!"

"I'm out!" The shark called from below and with a blast he flew into the air and vanished into the darkness of a nearby hallway. The Vree were buzzing in every direction, hitting the ceiling, the walls, the floor below them.

"CATCH!"

Ethan looked over the edge just in time as the blade, glowing and enchanted, sang through the air and slashed into the hive near the edge. Ethan reached out to grab it but Bloodmaw threw him from his feet with his shoulder and snatched the blade up. "I don't think so!" He hissed. Then with a slash of the blade in front of the head of the throne, a cut appeared as if the air had been slashed. There was a flash like lightening and a vortex split open, mixing between a Kraang-like pink color and an odd orange. A gust of wind burst from the portal, sucking everything in like a vacuum. Ethan snatched the edge of the cliff with his claws and drove his naginata in to hold himself down.

Bloodmaw gave a final yelp and vanished into the vast orange color.

"No! No! No!" Donatello screamed from below. "He missed! He missed! _Above_ the throne!"

"Dudes!" Mikey called, "I can't hold on!"

Before Ethan could reach his hand out against the wind, Mikey and Raph both screamed and vanished into the vortex. "No!" Ethan tried to call out but his voice vanished with the wind, his fur blowing around him and the Vree screaming from every direction. Donatello was the next to appear over the edge. Ethan felt his fingers grab at his strap but another moment and he was gone. "Donnie!" Even as Ethan called he saw his own siblings and Leo, their hands held together.

"Ethan!" Jess reached out her fingers and Ethan felt the tips of them before all three vanished.

Mona was right behind.

"Guys!" Ethan could feel his fingers slipping. Now there was no reason to stay at all. Wherever they had gone, that was where he needed to go.

Just before he allowed himself to wrench the naginata from its place, Ashina flipped up over the edge. She grabbed the edge with her claws and reached out, snatching the dagger that lay motionless as if the torrent of wind had no effect on it at all.

Ashina looked up at Ethan. No words were spoken between them, but Ethan saw something in her eyes.

Then with another slash and a cry that vanished in the wind, Ashina ripped at the nothingness above the throne. At first, Ethan thought that he saw white, glowing strings split away, and then with another blast of wind, another vortex opened, but this one was black as pitch night without stars. "Are we getting your master, or what?" Ashina called.

Ethan glanced at the portal with his own siblings and with a yell he let go of his naginata. Ashina snatched his hand and let herself go and both vanished into the blackness, both of the vortex's closing as they vanished and the blade still grasped in Ashina's hand.


	25. The Void of the Ten Dimensions - Part 1

Episode 26: The Void of the Ten Dimensions – Part 1

 _Something smells weird._ Ethan could feel something against his face. It wasn't soft – nor was it hard. It simply _was._ A coolness surrounded him and he kept his eyes shut, not wanting to know, not wanting to feel anymore. His body was sore, his nose was stinging with the odd smell that reminded him of musty attics and cobwebs. He could feel his shoulders and forearms shaking slightly.

"Ethan." A voice called out. "Ethan!"

Slowly, he opened his eyes to the sound. At first he thought perhaps he had only imagined himself opening his eyes as everything still looked dark. Then shapes began to form. Purples and deep blues. He groaned and turned his head, not wanting to get up. Ashina was there. In her belt was the blade glowing in the darkness a pale green that lit up the dark wolf fur that covered her body. Her katars were still strapped to her arms and her keen eyes watched him with something that almost looked like concern. "Are you okay?" she asked. Her voice was softer than normal – so much so that it surprised Ethan and he quickly righted himself so that he was sitting against the strange blackness beneath him. Ashina noticed and corrected herself, "Good, you're up." The softness had left her voice again.

"So…" Ethan said looking around. "This must be The Void." All around him was blackness save for odd, bubbling black pillars that glowed with pale purple and blue light. There seemed to be no horizon, save for a strange white light, rimmed by blackness like an eclipse. The floor beneath him seemed almost like shifting dark cloud – not solid and yet holding his weight.

Ashina had stood up now, looking around herself. "Must be." She replied.

Ethan looked up at her, "Why did you cut open The Void?"

Ashina looked down at Ethan, her mouth slightly open but no words came from her mouth as she stared into his own eyes and then looked away. "What do you mean?"

"I mean…the Shinotomo Clan is an enemy to the Hamato Clan, right? It just would make more sense to me that you would jump into the other portal with everyone else and run off with the dagger." Ethan straightened himself up and brushed off his pants with his hands, the pads on the bottom of his fingers brushing the dirt and dust away without issue. "Every step of the way it seems like you're helping us more than messing with us."

She scoffed at him and shook her head as she gazed at the ground beneath them. "The Shinotomo Clan _is_ an enemy to both the Foot and Hamato Clan." She said. "But…" her voice grew quiet, "I am not so sure how well I fit in with them anymore."

It was silent in the Void for a few moments and then Ethan cleared his throat, unsure of what to say. He remembered the first time he met Ashina. She was confident, ferocious, and had attacked him without hesitation. Now he was looking at an altogether different Ashina. Someone who looked vulnerable. Someone who seemed alone even when she was with Bloodmaw. Someone who he thought was a mortal enemy and here they were – alone together – with no fire between them at all.

Ashina glanced at him from the corner of her eye and then faced him. "So, are you here to find your old master or are just going to stand around all day in this horrible place?"

It was almost painful to think about finding Splinter here. Ethan had never met the man before – but knew from the turtles that he was a mutant rat. Other than that, it was almost impossible to think of where to start. As far as Ethan could remember, Bishop hadn't said a thing about once they had actually gotten into the Void. Ethan gazed at the odd eclipse in the distance and pointed towards it. "I say we head in that direction. That looks like the only significant thing I can see here."

"I hope you know what you're doing." Ashina muttered and the two slowly began to walk towards the dark eclipse in the distance.

Kaela's cheek felt cold. Her back was against something hard and before she opened her eyes her fingers gently moved against whatever it was she was on. It was sleek, cool, and smooth.

"She's waking up." A familiar voice sounded above her head and she immediately knew it was Leonardo. Suddenly she felt incredibly self-conscious and her eyes fluttered open, her eyelashes feeling like old dusty blinds parting. A pale blue light engulfed her at first, but by the time it faded she could see Leonardo looking down at her worriedly. "You okay?" she asked as she slowly sat up.

"Yeah, I think so." Kaela said with uncertainty. She realized she must have been sleeping on her tail the way that it hurt when she finally sat up. She looked around the room and immediately recognized it. They were back in Dimension X – one of the first places she ever remembered being at was this one. The pale blue light was a thankful sight. _It's just the Utrom, not the Kraang._ She sighed internally with relief.

The room was surprisingly empty. Leo, Raph, and Mona Lisa all stood watching her. (In Mona's case – towered over her.) Kaela slowly looked around the metal room, blue conduit lines running across the walls, the floors, and the ceiling. "Where is everyone else?" She asked nervously. "Where's Ethan and Jess?"

"We don't know." Raphael said, arms folded across his chest.

Suddenly the metal didn't seem as cold as how her insides felt.

Leo put his hand on her shoulder reassuringly. "Bishop told us that when the first portal opened it created a worm hole. It could have spit us out in only a few locations based on where we had been. That means they are likely on Earth if they aren't here with us."

Kaela nodded numbly and slowly slid off of the metal table she had been sleeping on. "Well, are we going to head back then?" she asked as she tightened the belt around her middle and over her shoulder. Mona Lisa, Raphael, and Leonardo exchanged glances with one another. "What?" Kaela asked, not entirely sure if she wanted to hear anymore.

"Bishop and the Utrom Council informed us that something terrible has happened in Dimension X." Mona Lisa explained, "Before departing they wanted our assistance and to inform us of some bad news."

 _How did I guess that something more would happen?_ Kaela groaned to herself, but she quickly squared her shoulders and nodded to her friends. "Okay." She said. "Whatever it is, I am sure we can help." As she finished her sentence the door to the room slid open smoothly with an electronic ping. Bishop stepped inside, adjusting the glasses on his face.

"Excellent." He said. "You are all awake now."

"Good to see you Bishop." Kaela said.

"I hate to skip the pleasantries, but this is an urgent matter that cannot wait. If you four would follow me to the Utrom Council please." He turned and without another word made his way back out the door. Kaela glanced at Leo and she shrugged back at her in response. Without another word the group left the room together and went down the cold, blue lit hallways of the Utrom Base.

Waiting for the them in the large council room was Queen who looked an awful lot like Miss Campbell, Rook who Kaela was surprised to see looked exactly like Irma, and finally Pawn who if Kaela wasn't mistaken had an odd looking moustache on his robotic upper lip. Bishop moved around the table next to Queen and sat down. "Welcome friends." Queen said.

 _Even her voice sounds like Miss Campbell!_ Kaela thought, trying not to remember the horrifying moment when they had been attacked by the elbow rocket throwing woman in their own school.

Leo, Raph, and Mona Lisa quickly sat down at the sleek, circular table – sitting across from the Utrom council and Kaela quickly stumbled down next to them, adjusting the mask around her face and tightening it. "So what's all this bad news?" Raph grumbled, arms still folded across his chest and Kaela winced at his words.

"When you vanished through the portal to Planet Sectoid 1 we prepared to detain Subprime." Bishop began, his elbows on the table, his fingers intertwined together. "However, when we returned to detain him – he was dead."

"That's good, right?" Leo asked slowly.

"It was not by our hand that he suffered death. He was crushed to almost nothing. And the Crystal Door was wide open."

Kaela remembered the glittering shining door that they had been trying to prevent from opening and imagined something large and glowing slithering out of the doors. "What was behind it?" She asked.

Bishop slowly turned his sunglass covered eyes to her. "The most dangerous and tyrannical Utrom to ever walk Dimension X. His name was Krang."

"No kidding." Raph scoffed. "So it was basically Kraang Prime?"

"No." Bishop replied grimly. "Kraang Prime stole the name of 'Krang' from this criminal. Prime was an adolescent and a novice compared to the might and mind of this Utrom. You see, many eons ago, we had reason to believe that the Utrom race was threatened by many outside forces. Krang convinced us that it would be wise to assemble a formal trained military. After that moment the Utrom council deemed him General Krang."

"He was easy to trust," Queen interjected, "It was largely due to his expertise that our weapons were created, including the robot bodies we now inhabit. General Krang's own robot body was designed specifically for battle and war. He began other inventions including the Technodrome. General Krang came to us more than once saying that a race of monsters were waiting outside our borders to destroy us. It was under this pretense that we allowed him to wage open war against those races. It would be kind to say that he destroyed them. What it truly was, was outright genocide."

Kaela put her hand over her mouth. "He destroyed entire races?" She muttered.

Queen nodded.

Bishop leaned forward and continued, "It was only after that we learned that none of those races were actually interested in the Utrom at all. General Krang was wiping out non-hostile races with the desire to become the next great power in the Ten Dimensions. It was at this time that he began to stir the hatred of the Triceratons. Despite the danger, we knew that General Krang had to be stopped. Hundreds of Utrom died to ensure his capture. He broke out every time, killing more of us. It was only after we sealed him behind the Crystal Door hundreds of earth years ago that we managed to keep him detained."

"You are telling us that this General Krang has now escaped and roams this dimension?" Mona Lisa asked, standing from the chair, her hands against the table.

"I am afraid so." Bishop said. "We do not know when he will launch an attack against the Utrom but it is likely it will be soon."

"So why did you bring us here?" Leo asked. "Do you really think we have the strength to stop him? We should be getting Master Splinter back!"

Bishop looked down at the table and then to his companions. Rook met eyes with Leo. "Before his capture, General Krang was interested in two things. The first was the downfall of the Triceraton empire. The second was the terraforming of Earth to fit Dimension X's needs. That is where Kraang Prime got the idea. Should the Utrom fall, we fear that Earth will be his next target."

Kaela shook her head and closed her eyes. Then she slowly stood up next to Mona Lisa. "We have to help them then." She said looking at her and then at Leo. "The Utrom have done so much for you guys – and for me and my brother and sister." Kaela couldn't believe what she was saying. "If Bishop says that we have the opportunity to save them and our own Earth, then I say we do it! The others probably have the Blade of Ages and are getting Splinter as we speak."

"We appreciate your bravery." Bishop said. "Any help you could offer us would be received with deepest gratitude."

Leo gazed at Kaela and she gazed back. Finally his shoulders slackened and he let out a sigh. "I hate to say it, but you're right." He said.

"So, how do we start exactly." Raph asked.

Bishop pulled out a small metal box and began punching away at the screen. "We can begin to track the movements of—." Suddenly a crash shook the entire base, throwing Kaela off her feet and slamming her against the ground, the wind vanishing from her lungs instantly.

"What was that?" Raph hollered, steadying himself against the table.

Bishop jumped to his feet, the screen on the box blinking red furiously. "It's him!" he exclaimed. "He's here."

Jess felt her body tumbling over and over again – her legs flipping over her head in a constant summersault. She felt her stomach follow after her movement, every shade of red and pink seemed to burst in front of her eyes. Then suddenly the ground was rushing up to meet her and with a slam she hit pavement. For a few moments she groaned and hope desperately that none of her bones were broken. She didn't have a whole lot of time to lay down doing nothing as suddenly she heard yelling and screaming all around her. The sound of crashing metal could be heard and the sky seemed to be covered in darkness – rain pelting down on her. "What's going on?" she heard Donatello speak over the sound of the wind and the rain. She slowly looked up to see Donatello was slowly standing up, next to him was Mikey.

"Hey, dude!" Mikey shouted after a shadow that was slipping away down one of the side streets at break neck speed – Bloodmaw. Jess slowly got to her knees and Donatello reached down to help her up. All around her people were yelling and running. Flames were slowly devouring one of the cars nearby, the windows shattered out of the frames like empty eye sockets.

"What's happening?" Jess cried.

As if an explanation was pouncing down on them, a woman ran from one of the alleyways. Chasing her was a mutant – a cheetah mutant. It's eyes flashed with a thirst and its claws reached out towards her. Mikey jumped into action and with a spinning leap the cheetah man flew backward, hitting the wall and crumpling. Donatello rushed up with Jess to the body. He reached down and turned the cheetah over to look closer at the unconscious mutant. He was wearing a loose leather jacket and one of his ears was pierced with a silver dragon earring. On his shoulder was a purple dragon that wrapped its way around his forearm. "The purple dragons." Jess said quietly.

They turned to see another pack of mutants – one in the form of a snake, another looked like a porcupine as they chased a man and his young son from the street. Another mutant in the form of an elephant smashed one of the cars and it crumpled. "This can't be good." Donatello reached for his bo staff.

"Well, well, well." A voice that sounded too familiar to Jess echoed somewhere behind and above them. They all spun around to see exactly the last person Jess wanted to set eyes on. Shredder was standing above them on one of the balconies, his tortured eyes stared down at them and in one of his powerful hands he gripped April O'Neil's wrist.

"Let go of me!"

Shredder ignored her. "So, of all the times that you choose to show your faces again it would seem it is when it is far too late. How unfortunate for you."

"April!" Donatello called, whipping out his bo staff. "Let her go!"

Jess quickly snatched the kamas from her side.

Shredder laughed and then grabbed at April's neck. For a horrifying moment Jess thought he was choking her, but then he ripped his hand away – April's glowing Aeon necklace in his hands, the blue light shining through the storm.

Jess willed the necklace come to her – begged internally that she had the strength to rip it from his hands. It seemed to blow suddenly in her direction, but nothing more was done. "I have what I wanted." Shredder said, his voice like piercing metal through the mask. He moved April to the edge of the fire escape balcony and without a word, let her go. She gave one single gasp and plummeted through the air towards the ground.

"APRIL!"

Donatello jumped and slammed into the ground, catching April right before she hit the ground and he rolled with her. "Donnie!" Jess could hear April over the sound of the wind.

"You'll pay for that Shred-head!" Mikey jumped towards the fire escape, but paused as he and Jess looked up at where he had been moments ago. He was there no longer.

"April, are you okay?" Donatello was speaking quietly and gently as Jess approached, her fur soaked. An explosion sounded far down the street and she turned, defending the two who still sat on the ground together, Donatello still holding April close.

Mikey joined the defensive stance. "My crystal." April exclaimed. "He stole my crystal!"

"We'll get it back." Donatello said. "April, what happened? What's going on?"

April slowly got back up on her feet, the rain dampening her flame colored hair to a dark color, her shoulders shaking. "We need to get back to the lair – Casey is waiting there. I was trying to stop the Purple Dragons on my way there when Shredder and his goons appeared. It's lucky you guys showed up when you did."

"I don't want to imagine that." Donatello said, "Are you crazy? You shouldn't have tried to do this all by yourself!"

"I can handle myself Donnie." She said it sharper than Jess would have expected.

"Okay," Jess said, "Maybe we should get moving. We are way outnumbered out here."

"To the lair!" Mikey exclaimed.

They sprinted down the darkened street, vanishing into a nearby alleyway. Jess could hardly believe how quickly things had changed and her mind reeled back to the others. _I hope they are okay._ She thought to herself, something inside her hurting more than her body that had taken the fall. She could picture Kaela and Ethan nearby. _They are already waiting at the lair for us._ She thought to herself. She kept playing this thought in her head like a broken record hoping that doing so enough would make it true.


	26. The Void of the Ten Dimensions - Part 2

Episode 26: The Void of the Ten Dimensions – Part 2

There was no sun nor moon in the Void, so Ethan had no way to judge how long they had been walking. Yet, as he moved, he could feel his legs going numb. It had to have been hours since they had first set out towards the odd looking eclipse in the distance and as they drew nearer, Ethan could see some kind of odd platform protruding from the ground like a small hill just underneath it. On occasion he would turn to look at Ashina. Her katars were strapped tightly to her arms, the intricate floral pattern on their edges now more easily seen that he was closer and not trying to dodge them.

As they walked he could see her eyes beginning to slide close and her black ears flatten on her head. He could tell she was dragging her feet, her tail twitching behind her sleepily. The odd pillars around them of black ooze that seemed to be trickling up into the sky with odd blue and purple light passed them on either side. Finally he paused. She went a few paces ahead of him before turning to look back at him. Ethan could feel his own ears flatten against his head. "Maybe we should take a break before we keep going." Ethan said, his breath coming out sharply, a stitch in his side growing and pinching at his stomach now that he had stopped.

"Fine."

Ashina slowly dropped down to the ground and curled her legs underneath her. Ethan could feel his own feet pounding with pain as he slowly crouched down and tucked his tail underneath his feet for extra padding. Despite the odd coldness and the dank smell, Ethan was sure he could fall asleep right here if he needed. Ashina had closed her eyes, her hands in her lap, her legs crossed. Ethan watched her quietly from across from her.

"So," he started, "What exactly is the Shinotomo Clan?"

Ashina's eyes slid back open. "You jump straight to that? Not very good at small talk are you?"

"Not with people who have tried to kill me before."

She snorted at that and rolled her eyes. "I wasn't trying to kill you." She said. "I was just having fun."

She went quiet again and looked down at her feet, rubbing her wet nose with the back of her hand. Ethan looked away and stared at the odd pinnacle that jutted from the ground not far from them. His mouth felt dry and his stomach empty – but he didn't have his backpack with him anymore. That had to be taken back in Dimension X.

"The Shinotomo Clan has existed for almost as long as the Foot or Hamato clans."

Ethan was shocked at the sudden noise and turned to look at Ashina. She was watching him but as soon as his eyes met hers she looked away. "You asked. Don't you want to hear?"

"Sure."

Ashina didn't meet eye contact with him again. She slid one of her claws against the ground, her chin resting on her knees that were tucked close to her chest now. "Legend talks about a young boy who lived in Japan a thousand years ago. His name was Ryuga Taeshinobu. He was meant to become emperor and lord over all of Japan when the civil wars died down. But the night he was meant to be made emperor the Foot and Hamato Clans attacked each other in his kingdom. Everyone there was caught in the crossfire. The young boy was left out in the winter cold after his palace had been blown apart by the two clans. People say he died from the exposure. He was sick for a long time. It was his servants who rose up in anger against the two clans who had destroyed the unity of Japan. They formed the Shinotomo Clan and swore to destroy both the Hamato and the Foot Clan." Her voice grew quiet as she spoke.

Ethan watched quietly and listened, imagining a young boy shivering in the cold, his hands sunk deep in the white snow as flames burst around him from the shambles of his old home. "That's so sad." He said. He could feel wetness on his eyes that surprised him and he realized he had been thinking of his siblings – their human faces in front of him. He missed his own human face. He felt his hand touch the fur by his cheek. "Yeah." Ashina agreed quietly.

"What about you?" Ethan asked, "What is your story?"

Ashina looked up at him, her eyes meeting his and Ethan felt he was looking into a reflection of himself. "I lived in Japan when I was little. My Mom and Dad liked to spend their time outside. We went on a camping trip – just us. I must have forgotten to tuck the food back in the car or something. My Dad kept telling me to do that. I can't remember if I did." Her voice softer as she spoke and her eyes grew distant. "That night, wolves attacked our camp. My parents got really hurt. By the time anyone found us I was half starved and they were both gone…" her voice cracked and she looked away. "That was a long time ago. I was in foster care for only a year before I ran away. That was when I met Lord Nightshade."

"Your master?"

"Yeah."

Ethan nodded. "So he took you in."

"Yeah. Helped fix me up. Told me to defeat my enemy I had to become it." She pointed to her fur. "I'm not the same breed that killed my parents, but it was close enough to hurt. He trained me though – taught me how to be tough. It wasn't till we moved back as a clan to America – New York – that I began to realize who Lord Nightshade really was. All he cared about was death. All he cared about was killing his enemies."

"Me." Ethan said quietly.

Ashina looked away again. "All of the Foot and Hamato Clan, yeah. We've been gathering mutagen for months. He won't tell us anything about what he is planning though. Some family." The last two words were muttered.

Ethan looked down at his own feet and tried to imagine a person ruthless enough to mutant someone into the creature that had killed their family.

"What about you?" Ashina asked. "What's your story?"

Slowly Ethan glanced up at her, the question boring into him and he opened his mouth but no words came to his mind for some time. Finally he said, "I don't know."

Ashina snorted. "What's that mean?"

Ethan shrugged and shook his head, "I woke up one day in the New York streets. I don't remember anything. How I got there, who I was. Master Hamato found me and my siblings though. He taught us and tried to help us understand ourselves." As he spoke he remembered Kitsune's eyes boring into his own and knew that she had been telling the truth. Somehow she was his mother. Their mother. But when he looked at her, something felt wrong about it all.

Ashina looked away again without a comment. "We should get moving if we don't want to starve here."

The two stood up again and began moving towards the odd looking Eclipse. It slowly moved into view as they walked closer and closer. Ethan could now see that the odd pinnacle looked only to be about ten feet high with jagged foot holes that led up it as if it were some kind of alter. A form could be seen near the top like an oddly shaped bag. As they drew closer the bag looked like limbs. The material around the form looked red and Ethan could see ears. Something that had looked like a snake suddenly became a tail. Ethan paused in awe. "That's him." He said. "That's Splinter."

Ashina had stopped in her tracks as well and for a moment Ethan thought she was looking at him with wide eyes. Then he realized she was staring at something behind him. He spun around and nearly yelped. Something was coming from the darkness. At first it looked like one of the odd, bubbly glowing pillars was moving, but then he realized this was shorter. It had a humanoid shape with gleaming purple eyes glowing from its head. Like bubbling tar, black fell from its long claw like fingers and torso, dripping down onto the ground and vanishing seemingly into nowhere. More were coming. Ethan could count four in front of him. He turned back to Ashina to see more behind her.

"This isn't good." Ashina said, spinning her katar to her forearms for action. "Maybe we should grab the rat and get out of here."

"Good plan." Ethan gulped.

The entire Utrom base shook again, the sound of a cannon firing could be heard booming down the hallway towards them. "What do you mean he's here?" Kaela cried, stumbling back up from her fall, whipping out her ribbon dart from her belt and unfurling it.

"It seemed we didn't even have the few days I thought we did." Bishop said.

Rook straightened up, "We cannot expect to defeat him right now!" She exclaimed, her Irma voice coming and giving Kaela the chills thinking of going to school with that same individual. "Bishop, you need to take the turtles and their allies and activate the central portals. If we do so soon enough we may be able to get them and a number of Utrom out alive."

Bishop watched Queen, waiting for a response, his arms tightly at his side, his glasses flashing in the light. Another blast shook the room. Queen nodded. "Rook is correct." She reached down and pressed a button on her table and the wall behind them slid open. "Take them, Bishop. Ensure as many can get out as possible. I will initiate the evacuation protocol."

"Are you crazy?" Leo exclaimed, pulling both of his katana from his sheaths and facing the door from which the booms kept issuing. "We can take this General Krang – no need to evacuate."

Raph spun his sais eagerly in his hand. "Yeah, we aren't just going to up and leave without a fight."

Kaela stood next between the two turtles and gave her ribbon dart a spin, the blue spinning around the black fur on her arm and she crouched low facing the steel door. Mona stepped up next to Raphael. "Prepare your portals, we will hold him off." She said flicking her wrist – her glowing blade jutting from the cool scale covered handle she held tightly in her hand.

"It is not advised that you stay long. General Krang is ruthless." Bishop said. "I will prepare the portals, but then you must retreat and join me the moment it is opened. I cannot allow you to risk your life. You are the only ones who know that General Krang has returned and will be coming for your earth."

Kaela tried not to admit to herself that she wished she was running down the corridor with Bishop. Queen and Rook watched them from behind making Kaela only feel more conscious of how incapable she felt. She could hear booming footsteps coming down the hallway towards them and she gripped her dart tightly. She closed her eyes and imagined Jess and Ethan standing next to her. She slowly opened her eyes and gazed at the doorway, the coldness left her body and was replaced with a gentle breeze, her muscles lessened their tightness and she let out a breath, ready to pounce.

"Let's do this." Leo said quietly next to her and Kaela nodded.

As if a start button had been pressed, the door exploded off its hinges, rocketing across the room and Kaela jumped up, using the table behind her to propel her movement and she flipped up over the door as it crashed against the table. She landed back next to Leo and Raphael, dust filling their vision along with a hulking shape that was slowly making its way towards them. A chilling robotic voice echoed down the hallway towards them – not like the Kraang speech at all, but something much colder, heavier, and calculated. "Come out Utrom Council." The voice drew closer as the hulking shape began to take form – long powerful robotic legs and arms, shimmering with a metallic silver color. "I will lock your corpses in the same prison you kept me in for a millennia." The figure emerged into the wide conference room.

Kaela felt herself let out another breath, this one less calm,. General Krang towered over them all, his face looked almost human in color, but his mouth was covered by an odd black colored vent, the eyes of the face glowed red. In the center of his chest was a plexiglass window, a familiar pinkish Krang was perched in the middle – the true controller of the body. "It seems you have allied yourself with putrid mutant deformities." His glowing red eyes scanned over them.

"General Krang," Queen said, "Stand down or we will be forced to attack."

A metallic, electronic laugh filled the conference room, booming like a subwoofer.

"Alright then." Kaela said, forcing calm back into her body, images of her family and friends at home flashing in her mind. "Attack it is then." She jumped into action, sprinting across the conference room.

General Krang moved quick. His long, thin metallic arm stretched forward and the hand retracted showing instead six missile heads – red in color. Kaela thrashed her arm, her ribbon spinning through the air and twisting around his wrist and she wrenched with all her might, his hand moving to the wall as the missiles fired. The wall of the conference room exploded in blasts of red fire and heat, rubble flying around them.

The next second Krang had flung his arm up, throwing Kaela into the air and with another swing and a squeal Kaela slammed into the table, nearly throwing Queen and Rook off their feet. "You asked for it! Nobody messes with my friends." Raphael dodged a spinning attack from General Krang and slammed his sai into his shoulder.

"Puny insect." General Krang snatched Raphael by the face and hurled him into the wall, the chrome like glass shattering around them, kicking Leo away from him as he did so. Mona slashed at his leg, but her blade ricocheted off, throwing her backward. "Foolish mutants. Your weapons cannot defeat my mechanized form."

Rook sprinted across the table and Kaela watched as she spun through the air. "Then perhaps we should aim elsewhere!" A blade protruded from her leg, her body aimed for the plexiglass shield that held Krang's pink body. He snatched her from the air by the neck and a moment later she fizzled and her robotic neck crumpled, her head sparking as he shattered it with his fist. He body fell to the ground.

"Rook!" Queen screamed as Krang dropped her body and smashed it with his foot.

"The time of the Utrom is over." General Krang hissed as Kaela got back to her feet.

"Not yet!" Leo slashed with his swords at Krang. His fingers retracted backward and tiny beams of light sizzled against the floor Leo had been standing on moments before, flames erupting from the metal.

"Get to the portal!" Queen yelled to them. "We cannot defeat him!"

"We can't just leave you!" Kaela shouted back as General Krang advanced on Mona Lisa who was picking up Raphael from the ground.

Queen retracted her arm, a rocket blasting from where her elbow was and throwing General Krang off his course with a scream. "I order you to leave immediately." Queen shouted. "You must defend Earth. We will keep him contained in Dimension X as long as possible!"

Kaela stared at Queen who nodded affirmatively back at her, encouraging her. "Okay." Kaela said. She flung herself from the table and ran to Mona Lisa, slinging Raphael's bruised arm over her shoulder and dragging him up with her. "Leo!" Kaela called. "We need to go!"

Leonardo nodded and sprinted with Kaela, Mona, and Raph down the hallway, leaving the conference room behind with Queen and General Krang. As they rounded the corner of the hallway they heard a scream that sounded like it had come from Queen. Kaela closed her eyes as they ran, not trying to think about what had happened a few feet away from them.

Bishop was waiting at the end of the next hallway. A portal was open before him.

"Now is the time for goodbyes." He stated. "Get in quickly."

"Bishop…" Leonardo said quietly.

Bishop turned to look at him, his arms behind his back, his usual stoic face unchanging. "Once you have stepped through the portal, I will close all portals in Dimension X to other worlds and then destroy the portal projector data base. It will take even General Krang years before he will be able to gain access to Earth."

"Bishop, no!" Kaela said. "What about the Utrom. What about…what about you?"

"None of that matters now." Bishop stated. "The best we can do is prepare for what will surely come to your world one day. Now leave, quickly."

The sound of metal steps could be heard down the hallway.

"Thank you, Bishop." Leonardo finally said.

"Good luck." Mona Lisa added.

With that, they all stepped through the portal, Kaela giving one last look at Bishop before the portal vanished behind her, General Krang turning the corner and Bishop removing his glasses as he faced the enemy.

Jess sat on a nearby couch in the lair. On the opposite one was Noel and Jacob from school. She gazed at their bruised faces, their closed eyes. Mikey sat next to her and Casey stood in front of them. He had just finished explaining how he had saved them from the attack on the school, neither of them conscious but luckily both of them breathing. He knew Kaela would have wanted them to be safe.

Jess put her hands under her chin, hardly able to believe what she was seeing. April was on the edge of the couch, breathing deeply, holding herself around the middle. Jess had seen people panicked, worried, shocked, stressed. What she saw in April's eyes was something else – something she couldn't identify but that frightened her. Jess slowly looked back up at Casey. "So, can you explain what is going on?" She asked.

Casey was watching April but nodded slowly, still not taking his eyes off of her, his black bandanna askew on his head. "Around 4 o'clock or so, the whole downtown area started losing it. The school went on full lock down. Shredder basically just threw an army of Purple Dragons and mutants at the downtown area. He started kidnapping teenagers and said that he was going to do…something to them tonight in Central Park."

Donatello shook her head standing next to Casey, "Has he lost his mind? Does he think he can go up against all of New York Cities police forces?"

"Dunno." Casey replied. "All I know is we have to do something."

"When is he doing that?"

"In about an hour."

"What kind of messed up stuff do he think he will do?" Mikey asked nervously, swinging his nun chucks nervously.

"Who knows," Jess said, "But we have to stop him."

"And we have to get my crystal." April said sharply. "Let's go now."

Jess watched as Donatello looked anxiously at April. She stood up and snatched up her fan, looking at it with a fire in her eyes that would even beat out Raphael's. Jess nodded, "Yeah, I agree with April. We better head out now if we want to stop him before anything goes down."

"Agreed." Casey said.

"What about Noel and Jacob?" Mikey asked. "Do we really want them just waking up in our lair with nobody hear? That sounds…not good."

Jess had to agree with that.

Donatello looked to him, "Mikey, you better stay behind."

"What? Why me!" Mikey exclaimed. "Casey is the one who saved them!"

"Because, if they see me they are going to freak out. They know me." Jess said. "Plus you can wait up for the guys."

"Fine." Mikey finally said slumping down. "Then I am getting Ice Cream Kitty."

"Can we stop talking?" April snapped. "We need to move."

Jess and Casey exchanged looks and then without another word, they sprinted out of the lair and vanished around the corner. Donatello was running close to April, watching her, but April didn't return the look.

After resurfacing into the rain, they quickly ran through the now nearly empty streets, fires still burning some of the cars. Jess watched as signs passed them. _I hope the others are okay._ She thought, water pouring off her white fur and down into her eyes. She looked over at April who was keeping up with them well, her face determined. "April," Jess panted out, "Are you okay?"

"Fine." Was all April said in return.

Jess knew they had reached the outer edges of the park when trees began to appear around them and what looked like once well manicured grass that had been trampled by many feet. Screams and shouts could be heard in the distance and lights could be seen. "You stay back, Jess." Donatello said as they neared the large lights up ahead. "Get the teenagers out of there."

"Okay," Jess agreed and Casey, April, and Donatello left the trees out into the light. Jess glanced out to see that hundreds of people – thousands even were yelling and screaming. They were being pushed away by an army of footbots and mutants of all kind prowled around a platform had been erected in the middle of the park. Shredder stood there, hands behind his back watching, his cape billowing in the wind. Kneeling in front of him were five teenagers although Jess couldn't recognize them from her perch behind the trees. Their hands were tied behind their backs and Jess recognized one other individual on the stage – Kitsune.

 _Mother?_

"Welcome!" Shredder announced, his voice booming from a microphone likely on his person. "You are all about to become not only witnesses, but participants in the ceremony that will announce me as ruler of this city."

Casey and April vanished into the crowd. Jess began to make her way through the trees. She had to get close to the platform – she couldn't allow what she knew what was going to happen. He was going to kill them. She sprinted through the growth as she heard voices shout from the platform.

"Oroku Saki, but your hands up and stand down or we will open fire!"

Jess paused and glanced over at the crowd. Kitsune was now stepping forward and had put her arm out, something glowing in her hand that Jess recognized immediately – April's necklace. Suddenly Jess slammed into someone as she was running. For a moment she thought she had collided with a tree, but then she realized someone else was groaning nearby her – a mutant with a missing ear. "Bloodmaw!" Jess hissed. "What are you doing here? Why'd you run off?" She felt suddenly like she wanted to hit him and jumped to her feet, spinning a kama in her hand.

"Back off!" Bloodmaw. "Why would I have stayed? I have no commitment to you losers."

"What are you doing here then? Have any of your Shinotomo friends waiting for us?" Jess raised her kama.

Bloodmaw put his hand up to cover his face. "No!" He yelled. "I—I was looking for Ashina, okay." He said.

Jess glared down at Bloodmaw. He frowned up at her as she slowly lowered her weapon. "Fine. Help me get these teenagers to safety."

"Why should I?"

"Because you have a soul. And besides, if Shredder wins here, then your master loses too."

Bloodmaw's ear flattened against his face and he bared his sharp teeth. "Fine." He said and Jess stepped over him.

"Get up then. We don't have much time."

The two sprinted through the trees, rounding the corner towards the side of the platform where far less crowd were. Jess watched from the corner of her eye. " _Owari ni shimasho ka?"_ Kitsune said, her voice echoing in Shredder's speaker. An odd blue light began to flood over the crowd from the necklace. "What the heck is that lady doing?" Bloodmaw snapped.

"Something not good." Jess replied.

The police and the crowd went quiet. "Now, my children," Kitsune said, "Find April O'Neil, Casey Jones, and the Hamato Clan."

"Something really not good." Jess paused where they were and stared in horror as the entire crowd, dead silent, began to search among themselves as one.

"What the—." Bloodmaw began.

Jess' mouth slowly opened and her eyes widened. "She used her necklace to amplify her magic somehow." Jess said, "She is controlling the whole crowd!"

" _What?_ " Bloodmaw hissed.

"We need to move now." Jess burst into the light, flipping her second kama into her other hand, Bloodmaw falling close behind her. Shredder was lifting his bladed arm over the head of one of the teenagers who was calling for their parents – but nobody was heeding them.

"SHREDDER!" April's scream rang out in the darkness and suddenly he was thrown from his feet backward. "I want my crystal back!" A figure was moving in the crowd and the crowd was converging on them. There were screams coming from the crowd again and the whole group of people stirred like a colony of hornets.

Jess sprinted as hard as she could towards the people, not sure yet what she could do, the rain blinding her eyes as she tried to blink it furiously away. Something else was happening – the wind was raging so loud that it sounded to Jess like the air was actually being sucked up in a large drain.

With a blast that threw Jess backward with Bloodmaw bracing her impact, a vortex appeared over the stage of pink. Jess watched as Kaela, Raphael, Leonardo and Mona Lisa burst from the portal, landing near the teenagers. "They're alive!" Jess exclaimed. She stumbled back to her feet, Bloodmaw yelling for her to get off.

"Kill them!" Shredder was yelling.

Jess was screaming too, "GRAB THE KIDS! RUN! RUN!" Kaela leaped to her feet. Mona Lisa grabbed Raphael cradling him, Leonardo jumping into action and freeing the teenagers. April was being dragged – screaming away from the crowd by Hun and another Purple Dragon.

"APRIL!" Jess heard Donatello screaming but didn't know where he was.

"CASEY! CASEY!" April screamed back as they dragged her from the crowd.

The teenagers were running from the stage. The crowd was staring to break. Jess threw people out of her way. Donatello was kneeling on the ground next to Casey's body. Red was soaking the grass. Casey wasn't moving. "Help me!" Donatello yelled at Jess.

Jess ducked down and helped Donatello pick up Casey, her white fur stained red by blood that was pooling from somewhere on his torso. Bloodmaw was throwing people out of their way. "We need to get out of here!" He yelled.

"What about April?"

Jess looked up and past Casey's shoulder to the stage. Shredder, Kitsune, and April were gone. Leonardo and Kaela had joined the fray, Mona still holding Raphael as she stood away from the crowd. "We can't!" Jess called. "We'll get her!"

Donatello didn't have much of a choice. He paused for only a moment and then shouted loudly to his brother, "HEAD BACK TO THE LAIR!" And with that they ran, the crowd stampeding against each other in confusion behind them in the park, the weight of Casey's body pulling Jess down as they vanished into the dark trees.


	27. The Void of the Ten Dimensions - Part 3

Episode 26: The Void of the Ten Dimensions – Part 3

"This isn't good." Ethan said, slowly backing away as the odd oozy looking humanoids approached, eyes burning from puddles in their faces. The black that they were made of seemed to pool off of them like liquid, or evaporate around them like mist – sometimes they were doing both. "Really not good." He glanced from the corner of his eye towards the odd pillar with stairs where the crumpled body of Splinter lay.

Ashina slowly backed towards him until he felt the edge of her arm touch his back. "We do this together." She said slowly as the creatures pressed in closer, opening mouths absent of teeth soundlessly, darkness pooling from their mouth and collecting at their oozy feet. "When one of us gets an opening, that person should go grab Splinter."

"Can I trust you to do that?" Ethan asked whipping his naginata into a defense position. Three of the monsters from the Void were approaching quickly and pressing down towards him, others stumbling right behind.

Ashina scoffed and elbowed at his ribcage. "Yes, I'm not some kind of psycho."

"I'm not convinced."

With a flip, Ashina put her katar from both arms into an attack position, the edges glimmering a sharp purple color. "Sounds like a personal problem to me." Before Ethan could think of something snarky to say in return one of the creatures lunged for him, dripping whatever it was made out of in a puddle behind it.

Ethan swept himself under the figure and with a stroke that came more from his stomach then his arms, slashed the creature in half. It roared for a moment before splashing into a puddle of goop behind Ethan as if he had cut the soul out of its body.

It was as if that one stroke was a warning signal. The other creatures converged all at once, screaming and groping at them. Ashina moved as if she were dancing, her feet barely touching the ground as she spun, slashing with precise intent and direction. Black murk would splatter up into the air but not return to the ground as if it had been sucked up into the sky. As Ethan spun around with her they switched sides flawlessly and he rammed the end of his naginata into the neck of one and it burst into a cloud of mist as if it had only been air to begin with. "What the heck are these things?" Ashina asked, cutting one in half as Ethan ducked out of the way, slicing one that threatened Ashina and dissolving it on the spot.

"Dunno if even Bishop could tell us that." Ethan replied. He jumped out of the way of another that nearly caught him by the leg with his slimy, dripping hand. Ashina quickly recovered from one she had finished off and turned, slashing the one that had threatened Ethan. "W-we make a pretty good team." Ethan said as Ashina clapped him on the shoulder.

"An opening. Go." Ashina pointed. Some of the creatures had dispersed from a corner edge near a black pillar that was billowing blue mist from its sides. "Go!" Ashina threw Ethan towards the opening as more of the monsters made their way towards her and him, closing up the gap. Ethan burst forward, his eyes only watched Splinter's form as he drew closer. Two of the monsters reached their hands out to cut off his way but Ethan dropped, sliding underneath their outstretched fingers. He turned to look at Ashina. She evaded the monsters attacked, returning with her own expert strokes. But despite her skill, it looked that she didn't have much time before she would be overwhelmed.

Ethan sprinted up the pinnacle stairs, stumbling as he went but managing to keep his feet underneath him. _Please don't be dead. Please don't be dead._ Ethan dropped to his knees when he reached the top and whirled around. Ashina wasn't overwhelmed yet. She was still fending them off, but he could see that he was running out of time. He turned back to look down at Hamato Yoshi. His eyes were closed. He had long whiskers on either side of his face that seemed to have gone limp. White lines in his fur ran down his neck from his head and his mouth was slightly open. The red robe that he wore around his frame was unstained, undamaged as if he had preserved in time.

Ethan leaned down and put his head to the large rat's chest. He could feel it move. He could hear breathing. "Master Splinter!" He shouted. He grabbed the man by his shoulders and shook him slightly.

"Ethan!" Ashina screamed from behind.

Ethan shook Splinter again. "HAMATO YOSHI!" He called. "WAKE UP!"

As if the words were an electric pulse, Splinter's chest pumped forward and his eyes opened showing deep brown pools. "Where…where am I?" Ethan could have hugged the rat.

He met eyes with Ethan. "W-who are you?" he asked.

"I can't explain now! I am working with the turtles – your sons! We need to get out of here, but to do that, we need to save my friend!"

Ethan didn't wait for a response but stood and burst back down the stairs. Ashina was being grabbed by the arms and around her middle by the creatures and she screamed like their touch was burning her flesh. "ASHINA!" Ethan called. He jumped forward and began slashing with all the might that he could. The black ooze splattered the ground and his clothes as he attacked.

"Allow me!"

Suddenly another figure that towered over him was next to him. Splinter moved like Ethan had only seen once before in his life – like Hamato Yuta – his own dad. The thought nearly brought tears to his eyes. Splinter moved through the Hamato forms like a whirlwind. Creatures screamed and tried to escape in his wake. More were coming from behind the pinnacle – cheated of their prize.

Ethan reached out and grabbed Ashina's hand that reached out for him through the monsters arms. He pulled as hard as he could and she emerged, throwing herself into his chest as they fell backward. "Ashina—." Ethan started but she was thinking faster than he was. She pulled the Blade of Ages from her side and with a holler of effort, slashed into the oblivion.

A tear formed where she cut and a vortex of color burst through the blackness. "JUMP!" Ethan grabbed Splinter's hand and Ashina wrapped her arms around his chest as they all sank away from the creatures and into a pool of colors, the portal snapping shut as they were thrown into a whirlwind.

The moment they made it back to the lair, Jess forced Kaela into a hug. "I had no idea where you guys were." She felt her voice tremble as she tried to get words out in the right order, her emotions spilling out over her tongue. "I had no idea where you guys were."

"Dimension X." Kaela said returning the hug. "Things are crazy there. A monster by the name of General Krang got out of that Crystal Door and has been destroying the place. We barely made it out." Jess let Kaela go and stepped back. In the corner, Donatello was setting Casey down on the couch. "Leo, run to my lab and grab my medical kit." As Leonardo ran for it, Mona laid Raphael on the other couch. Jess did an inventory in her head: _Raphael, Mona Lisa, Leonardo, Kaela, Donatello, Casey, Mikey, Bloodmaw…_

"Where is Ethan?" Jess asked.

"And Ashina." Bloodmaw added.

Kaela looked grimly back at Jess. "I don't know. They didn't appear here with you?" She asked. Jess shook her head slowly. "Who knows where that portal took them." Kaela muttered it under her breath as she folded her arms across her chest.

Casey's shirt was lifted up and Leo handed Donatello his first aid kit. Underneath, blood was running from his abdomen. "Is he going to be alright?" Mona Lisa asked.

"It's a pretty serious wound," Donnie replied, "But I think with some work he shouldn't be in any mortal danger. He'll be okay." He was working fiercely, handling bandages, alcohol and an array of other things that Jess didn't even know. He wasn't moving, or grimacing.

Kaela turned to look at Jessica, a frown on her face. "This is bad," she said. "Noel, Jacob, Casey, and Raph down. Not to mention Ethan missing and April captured."

Jess couldn't imagine a worse situation. "Don't forget about Kitsune being able to control all of New York with the Aeon crystal and _this guy_ now knowing where our hideout is." Jess pointed an accusatory thumb in Bloodmaw's direction.

The hyena mutant immediately stepped forward, his eyes flashing dangerously, "All I'm here for is Ashina. I could care less about your stupid lair."

Jess stepped up to him, matching his fire with her own.

Donatello stepped up, wiping his hands on a cloth. Casey's middle was wrapped in white and his chest was moving up and down slowly now, although his eyes hadn't opened yet. "We need to get April back." He said. "With that crystal, her, and Kitsune, Shredder will take over all of New York – he practically already has. We need to make two teams. One can get to Shredder and get April out of there. The other can stay behind and look after these guys."

"Maybe you should stay Donnie?" Kaela suggested. "I mean, you know the most about medical things."

Donatello shook his head, "I'm going. I can get to April."

"I should go too." Jess said. "I can communicate with her I think."

"Please let me go." Mikey said. "I've already been cooped up here."

Mona Lisa stood. "I will stay." She said. "I can watch over Raphael, Casey, and these others." She motioned to Noel and Jacob who were still sound asleep, large bruises on their heads. "Although, if we were attacked, I do not know if I would be able to fend them off alone."

The room went quiet as everyone looked at each other nervously, nobody speaking. "I'll stay." Jess was surprised to see Leonardo step up. "I know the healing hands." He said when he saw Jessica's expression. "I can help."

"That leaves Mikey, Jess, Kaela, and Bloodmaw with me." Donnie said.

Leo nodded. "You should go quick. Who knows how much time we have before Shredder makes another move."

"Any chance to try and rip that guy's face off is fine with me." Bloodmaw said, spinning the tonfa out from behind him.

"Let's move out." Donatello said pulling out his bo staff. "Thank you Leo." He said quietly and then he turned and sprinted for the exit, Jess, Kaela, Bloodmaw, and Mikey following close behind him in a ninja run. As they went down one of the exits they could hear Leonardo muttering behind them, " _Rin, Pyou, Tou, Sha, Kai, Jin, Retsu, Zai, Zen._ "

Ethan didn't see the ground, but he felt it. His back hit the hard pavement and he felt the wind rush out of him, Ashina toppling over the top of him and landing on his chest with a solid _thump!_ That didn't help his breath problem at all. He could feel Splinter next to them and with a groan he sat himself up, Ashina tumbling slightly off of him and putting feet beneath her to right herself.

Shaking his head and flipping his ears and tail with annoyance as he righted himself he realized that they were in the dark of night and on a familiar New York street. Splinter was already on his feet and he reached out to help Ethan steady himself. "I know where we are." Ethan said turning to look behind him. He was correct. A huge, almost castle like building was protruding from the nearby street, the lights in the windows blazing like fire.

"Shredder's lair." Splinter said solidly. His voice brought a level of comfort to Ethan. He sounded just like Hamato Yuta. He then turned to look at Ethan and Ashina who was standing standoffishly off to the side. "Now that we are out of immediate danger and before we enter any more, may I ask who my savior's are?"

"I-I'm Ethan." Ethan quickly gave a short bow like Master Hamato had taught him. "I was trained by Master Hamato Yuta here in New York."

Splinter's eyes widened and his arms fell to his side. "Ham…Hamato Yuta?" He said slowly. "My father."

Ethan nodded. "We were looking for your sons to get their help. Bishop told us where we could find you. Master Hamato…he…" Ethan wetted his lips, "He was killed by Shredder." He looked up nervously into Splinter's face and saw a flash of something there – like the sudden crackle of flame before it doused out again.

"And who are you?" He asked, his eyes now on Ashina.

"Uh…I am…"

"A friend." Ethan quickly filled in.

Ashina looked at Ethan but stayed silent and for a moment he thought he saw a flicker of a smile on her lips. "Her name is Ashina." Ethan offered.

"Thank you both for all you have done for my family." Splinter said. He then turned and looked over at the glowing building. "I sense something dire has happened to the city. I do not think it is happenstance that the portal deposited us so near to our enemy. Of all the places in the world that it could have placed us, surely there is something that must be done here."

Ethan watched the building, hoping that some sort of sign would appear that this was the right place to be at. He was feeling more inclined to run back home. Ashina on the other hand was slowly walking away. At first, Ethan thought she was running and turned to grab at her hand, but instead she was looking at one of the nearby brick walls. "What is it Ashina?" Ethan asked.

"These marks…" She said quietly, her padded fingers touching the wall lightly. Ethan could see deep grooves in the wall, like nails had raked down them. Ashina sniffed at the air and looked at Ethan, her eyes flashing in the darkness. "Bloodmaw has been here – not long ago either. A few minutes maybe. And your family was with him along with some of the turtles."

"How do you know all of that?" Ethan asked.

Ashina chuckled darkly, "We learned to be really good at tracking." She said with a grin that showed all her teeth. Ethan felt the odd sensation to smile back.

"If that is true, then there must be a reason they went to Shredder's lair." Splinter said. "If my sons are there, then I must enter quickly."

Ethan nodded, "I am coming too."

"Me too." Ashina added.

Ethan nudged her arm and smiled, "You keep surprising me."

Ashina smiled back. "I'm full of those. Stay tuned."

Without another word the three ran for the doors to the lair. Ethan didn't like that there were no guards at the door. That was one of the first times he had seen it. "Proceed cautiously." Splinter said. They quickly snuck in through the door, not allowing it to close loudly behind them. The hallway was equally empty save for the flaming torches that always stood on each side. Going further down the hallway towards the upper floor, there were several footbots on patrol. Splinter stopped them and then quickly and stealthily dispatched them. He then waved for the two to continue with him.

Ethan and Ashina followed close behind, weapons at the ready. As they stepped forward to the final floor they could hear talking coming from inside. "Stay in the shadows." Splinter said. "Do not come out until the time is right."

Ashina rolled her eyes but Ethan shoved at her arm and without another word they both slipped into the shadows on either side of the door. Splinter did nothing of the sort but instead slowly placed his hand on the knob and turned it.

He vanished through the doorway and Ethan heard a series of gasps.

"SENSEI!" He heard Mikey and Donatello's voices cry out.

"Master Splinter?"

That one Ethan immediately recognized as Kaela's.

"Well, well, it seems that you have finally decided to show your face for so long." Shredder's voice rumbled down through the doorway and Ethan tightened his hand on his naginata, trying to keep himself from sprinting in. "Only a weak-willed coward would hide behind his students. And yet that seems to be all you have done for months."

"I have returned Saki," Splinter said his voice as solid as stone, loud and sturdy, reverberating off the glass. There was a pause of silence where Ethan could only hear the sounds of people stirring, but no words were being said – no steel hitting steel. "What have you done, Saki?" Splinter asked. "Release April, now!"

Shredder's laugh came through the doorway.

"I am sick of that laughter." Bloodmaw snapped. Ashina looked up at Ethan and locked eyes. She had her katar both at the ready and was crouched down almost to the ground, ready to jump into action.

Shredder seemed to have ignored Bloodmaw entirely. "In your absence I have taken over the entire city. Kitsune here has used this girl's necklace to take control over the population. Their minds now belong to me. They are pouring into the sewers as we speak. Once they find your home they will kill everyone in it. But fear not, old friend. You will still get to witness your own share of blood. Beginning with this girl."

"April!" Donatello cried.

"Let her go!" That one was Jess – Ethan knew it the second he heard it.

"Enough of this." Splinter said. "Fight me Saki. This is about you and I."

There was quiet.

"I accept. But first – April O'Neil dies."

Ethan couldn't take it for another moment. He heard the slide of metal and knew that Shredder has his weapon at the ready. He jumped forward into the light. All at once he saw the entire scene. Jess, Kaela, Bloodmaw, Mikey, and Donatello were standing near the center of the room, weapons at the ready. Splinter was at their head now directly facing Shredder and Kitsune along with a host of foot soldiers, Tigerclaw, and Rahzar.

Clutched in Kitsune's hand was April's glowing necklace, and at Shredder's feet was April herself. Before anyone could react, Ethan snatched a shuriken from his belt and threw it as hard as he could. It whizzed through the air and lodged itself into Shredder's palm, his hand raised to strike April.

At the sound of his scream the room flew into action.

The foot clan jumped into action, striking down on the turtles, Jess, Kaela, Bloodmaw and Splinter. Bloodmaw immediately burst forward and began striking with a ferocity more like his hyena side than his human, his claws flashing, his tonfa beating into foot soldiers shoulders and sides. "Ethan!" Jess cried happily, but she only had a moment before she had to turn on Rahzar who was pressing down on him.

Donatello sprinted towards April, striking everyone that he could. "Enough with you!" Ethan felt a blast of heat hit his arm and like fire ran through it and he collapsed on one knee with a shout, his hand covering where he had been shot. Tigerclaw aimed again.

Ethan didn't have the time to get back up or to do anything but collapse to try and dodge.

He heard the gun go off but nothing hit him. Instead, a figure jumped forward and the beam ricocheted into the glass shattering it into thousands of tiny sharp pieces. "Back off." Ashina said, stepping over Ethan.

"Thanks." Ethan gasped, removing his hand to see the burn on his arm and the fur that had been burned charcoal black.

"I'll take him. Get that April girl out." Ashina said running into the crowd of fighters.

Ethan stood back up, gave his naginata a good swing with his bad arm to see if he could still use it and then sprinted across the stone aisle to the stairs. April was struggling as several foot clan members were trying to haul her off. "My son." He heard Kistune say, her eyes on him. "Come."

"Don't worry about that." Ethan jumped the stairs four at a time and swung his naginata as hard as he could at her. She lifted the necklace and his weapon rebounded, nearly throwing him off kilter.

Kitsune smiled at him, slung in her other hand was her white mask that looked like the face of a fox. "You cannot hurt me, my son." She simpered, the sound of clashing metal behind her. Ethan glared at her. "My magic protects me." As she said it, a shimmer like an odd invisible glass shone in the moonlight.

"Forget that." Kaela emerged from the crowd, several foot soldiers falling over from a swing of her ribbon. She lifted her hand, closed her eyes and a moment later the magic around Kitsune seemed to crack and burst with a gust of wind.

"What?" Kitsune hissed under her breath. "So, it is true! You inherited my power." Ethan sliced quickly before she could react and April's necklace was ripped from Kitsune's grip, falling to the ground with a sharp _ping!_ Ethan aimed another attack but Kitsune leaped out of the way before Ethan's blade could pierce her. "Then perhaps we will see each other again after all." She smiled at Kaela and then slipped into the shadows, vanishing behind Shredder's throne like chair.

"Stop!" Ethan shouted after her. "Come back!"

He ran towards the chair, but before he reached it, Shredder stepped into his way, his blades glowing in the light, blood running down his fingers and dripping to the floor, his eyes burning as he looked at Ethan, violence shaking his shoulders. "You think you can stop me." He said. "I have had enough of your games. Those who stand with the turtles will die with the turtles."

Shredder struck, sparks dancing off the edge of his blades as Ethan swung with his naginata, barely avoiding being skewered through the chest. He leapt backward, nearly falling off the edge to the glass below.

He could hear his friends fighting behind him – foot clan ninjas hitting the ground with the sound of sparking wires.

Ethan parried another heavy set of blows, his naginata groaning from the effort, the wood splintering as Shredder came at him again and again, his cape flying behind him with his harsh movements.

He could hear Donatello picking up April from the floor – see it in the corner of his eye as April screamed and grasped at her necklace far out of reach.

Ethan felt his shoulder hit glass – the impact shattering it behind him and lodging the shards in his shoulder, blood pooling out of his wound. His naginata spun from his sore fingers from another lashing attack – Shredder's leg hitting his side.

He felt ground – heard more screaming. April was scrambling for her necklace.

Ethan's vision was going hazy.

April snatching up her necklace was obscured by Shredder's bladed legs. He could hear Kaela and Jess yelling his name, the sound of Tigerclaw's guns going off and the sizzle of heat against stone. A foot rammed into his shoulder blade and Ethan felt his teeth bite down on his lip, blood stinging his tongue.

"Now, breath your last breathe."

Ethan couldn't move. He couldn't see Ashina or Splinter or his siblings. His vision was going dark. A blade was lit up in moonlight, raised over him and ready to plunge into his neck. He had the oddest sense of hearing Kitsune fleeing into the darkness outside and the feeling of the grass against his face.

He closed his eyes and heard the blade come down on him – but it never hit. Instead, he heard Shredder scream, felt his weight lift off of him and heard him crash into the glass and his fading scream as Shredder vanished out into the night, having been thrown off his feet and plummeting to the ground below.

Ethan groaned and opened his eyes. An awed silence seemed to have overtaken the whole room. Ethan slowly lifted his head to try and see who had saved him at the last minute. April was standing, her hand outstretched towards Ethan. Any expression had left her eyes and was replaced by nothing but the soft, eerie blue of the necklace that she clutched in her hand. Her hair, as if stilled in an invisible wind was up like a burning flame licking at the air above her. An odd, twisted smile that made her look like someone entirely deformed her face.

He didn't know how much time had passed – for now that he had a moment to get a grip on his surroundings he could see that Tigerclaw, Rahzar, and whatever was left of the Foot Clan seemed to have cleared out. Now, Mikey, Splinter, Jess, Kaela, Bloodmaw, and Ashina stood in stunned silence staring at April. Donatello was still clutching at one of her hands, the other holding the glowing Aeon stone – the room was quiet save for the electric hum of the fallen footbots as sparks showered from their shattered necks and broken legs.

Donatello's hand gripped April's own tighter, his bo staff on the ground, forgotten. "A-April?" he stuttered out.

Ethan didn't move from where he was laying but watched, unsure of what to think, the broken glass littered around him where Shredder had smashed through ceiling, the stars glowing down on him. April slowly turned her head to look at Donatello. Then, as if brushing an insect off her arm she swiped her hand down her shoulder and Donatello flew from where he was standing, crashing into the ground with a yelp. "Off of me, insolent mutant." Her voice sounded nothing like what it usually did. An odd, lower tempo that was almost musical seemed to intertwine with her once normal voice.

"April!" Mikey cried.

"What the heck is going on?" Bloodmaw added.

April turned her back to Ethan and looked down at the others who were near the stairs to Shredder's throne. "There is no April. Only Za'Naraan." The voice said. "It is time for this world to be purged as it should have been long ago." She slowly lifted her hand until her fingers pointed down at the others. "Perhaps I should begin with you mutants who already have polluted this planet with your filth enough."

Splinter stepped forward. "April! That stone has too much power. Destroy it now!"

The creature scoffed with April's lips. "Do you not see what pain has already been caused by the petty feuds of clans long forgotten? This city is in shambles and there are none who seek peace. Violence has taken over its streets."

Ethan had finally righted himself, but did not dare make a sound – he had to wait for a perfect opportunity to strike – when April had forgotten that he was still alive.

"What the heck are you talking about, April?" Mikey cried.

"April! You've got to listen to me! I can help you, but you have to let the crystal go." Donatello was speaking over Mikey's voice as everyone slowly began to move in. Ashina met eyes with Ethan for only a moment before she realized what he was doing and quickly drew her attention back to April.

Bloodmaw flipped his tonfa, scarred with ash stains from his strikes against the footbots. "If this girl things she is taking us down just because she calls herself a different name, she better forget it." Ethan didn't hear a tinge of joking in his voice.

Ethan inched his feet closer, not daring to even lift them in case it made a sound.

"If you will not let me pass, then all of you mutants will die here – cleansed at the hand of your friend – she chose the crystal before any of you a long time ago."

Her hand slowly formed into a fist and Mikey began to scream. Ethan couldn't see from where he stood what was happening but by the splintering sounds and the cries it sounded like April was twisting him a part. Ethan had never heard noises like that from Mikey and it made his legs nearly give out beneath him. He inched closer to April. "STOP!" He could hear feet running towards April, more screams and then Ethan had his moment – she was distracted by multiple individuals.

Without a thought for the pain that was wracking his body, Ethan jumped, arms outstretched, his naginata falling to the ground. He slammed into her back and April toppled, the necklace dropping down the stairs as he collapsed on top of her, pinning her to the ground with his body weight.

Her torso dipped over the edge and she nearly fell off the platform to the glass below. She screamed with fury and Ethan felt his weight leap off her body and suddenly he was hovering in the air. He levitated a few feet and then he began to feel something terrible. His bones rubbed against each other in the wrong directions, crunching as they moved and he felt his arms begin to bend backward. He heard his scream before he realized it was his own.

Others were running beneath him. He could feel Jess's mind reaching at his own as if trying to fend off an attacker and hear Kaela calling his name. Then as soon as it had started, it stopped and his body fell back to the ground with a _thump_!

 _What the –_

He tried to move but his body groaned in protest. Ethan rolled to his side, his tail limp, his ears flattened. April was kneeling near him. He could see glittering shards of the Aeon crystal beginning to lose light and he could see Donatello kneeling inches away from her, their lips touching. "April." Donatello said quietly as they parted.

Then suddenly feet covered his view – black and white furred feet. "Ethan! Are you okay?" He could feel Jess and Kaela reaching down to him, lifting him up. He groaned the second they lifted at his shoulders.

"You're pulling them out of their sockets." He muttered under his breath, gritting his teeth and giving a hissing noise as they righted him to his feet.

He felt their arms around him and he slackened his own grip so his arms hung around their necks on either side of him. "Glade we're back together." Kaela said to him with a smile. "And you even got Master Splinter back from the Void!"

"Awesome!" Jessica grinned.

Ethan smiled weakly back at them, wanting nothing more than to fall onto a bed and fall asleep. They made their way down the steps to the ground floor. Bloodmaw was already on his way to the door. "Ashina, come on." He said as he made his way out. "We don't want to be seen anywhere around here by Koya or Gore."

Ashina had her back turned to the door and was fidgeting with her feet. Kaela and Jessica moved Ethan closer to Splinter who turned to look at Ashina with Ethan. She looked up and gazed somewhere past Ethan's head, but he knew she was focusing on him. "I better go." She said quietly.

"I thought you said you were done with the Shinotomo Clan." Ethan said quietly, making sure to keep out of earshot from Splinter. She didn't say anything but gave a weak smile and then flipped her katar back and out of sight. Slowly, she turned from Ethan and shrugged her black shoulders.

Splinter stepped in front of Ethan, Kaela, and Jessica. "Should you ever desire a home," He said, "You are always welcome with us." He gave a sideways glance in Ethan's direction and Ethan smiled back at him, trying not to think about the pain that was throbbing in his body.

Ashina nodded. "Bye, Ethan." She said quietly and then slipped out the door after Bloodmaw and into the dark. Ethan turned back to look at Donatello and Mikey as they helped April to her feet, the shards of the necklace still in pieces beneath her.

Splinter then placed a hand on Ethan's shoulder. "I should thank you for all you have done for me and my family." He said.

"Nah," Ethan replied, "That's what family does for each other."

Splinter smiled warmly. "Then let us go home." He said.


	28. Epilogue

Epilogue: 2 Months Later

Cold air was beginning to fade and ashen colored snow had melted, leaving dusty footprints behind. Rain splashed into the sewer tunnels often, slapping against the stone beneath, quenching the thirst of moss that was already growing brighter in the coming warmth of spring.

Shredder and his Foot Clan hadn't been seen since he had fallen from his own lair. It had been a month of patrols yielding a thankful lack of fruit. The Purple Dragon's had mostly vanished and the city had grown quiet. Ethan had been sad to see that he didn't get to see word one from Ashina. Not even Bloodmaw seemed to be stirring up any trouble.

But something else had been boiling in his mind over the past few days that made him restless and that led to more dreams of green foliage and rocky beaches near cliffsides where the spray of the ocean shattered against the rocks. He had talked to Kaela and Jess about what he felt needed to be done and they had agreed with a certain level of anxiety.

Tonight, Master Splinter wanted to have a family dinner with his four sons, Kaela, Jess, and Ethan, and of course April and Casey. Karai had been invited as well but she was too busy with Shinigami organizing the Foot Clan and Ethan felt a certain level of joy that he wouldn't have to witness her and Leo flirting over the pizza Mikey had demanded be ordered as the main course.

Tonight decisions would be made.

And Ethan now had one of his own.

"Pizza is here!" Mikey called from the other kitchen.

Ethan broke from his meditation under the tree with Leonardo. "Heck yes." Leonardo muttered under his breath loud enough for Ethan to hear and the two made their way out from the shade of the tree and into the kitchen. Mikey had already opened the boxes and was sniffing at their contents with sighs of joy. "Get your nose out of the pizza!" Raphael snapped, pushing Mikey towards the chairs around the bar. Mona Lisa had gone back home a week ago and Raphael had been more edgy ever since.

Donatello was laughing with April about something on his computer and Kaela and Jess were standing behind them. Kaela was chuckling but Jess had her hands folded across her chest, her eyebrows raised. "That is the weirdest ending of a series I have ever seen." She said. "Why did Kumota decide to go to Africa? That's stupid." She shook her head and sat down at the bar. Casey who was grabbing soda's shook his head at their remarks and wheedled his way next to April. He still moved slow, a large bandage around his chest. It would be another month of recovery at least, according to the Doctors from the stab wound he had suffered.

Master Splinter was already serving up the pizza on paper plates and passing them around. Ethan and Leo sat next to Mikey and when they finally all received their food they said a quick: "Itadakimasu!"

They began scarfing down the pizza. Ethan moved slower, not thinking at all, but feeling nervous about who would talk first. As if April had read his mind, (which possibly she had) she said, "I guess I'll go first." All eyes turned to her. "In a couple weeks I start my internship with Winter's Corp. I'll be off to places all over Mexico and maybe even further south!" She looked over at Donatello, Casey, and then into the eyes of each person. "I guess I won't be seeing you guys much this summer." Her voice had gone quiet.

Ethan noticed as Leo turned his gaze to Splinter expectantly. The old rat seemed to have noticed and carefully placed his plate down on the table. "Our family has grown tremendously. Shredder is no longer a threat – but I feel that this will not last. For that reason, it is important that we become a better team. I have chosen to send Leonardo on a personal mission to South America for the summer where he will learn skills that will be important to the future of this family."

"What?" Raphael and Mikey exclaimed simultaneously.

"Are you serious?" Donatello asked.

Leonardo did not look at his brothers, but stayed quiet.

Master Splinter nodded. "Leonardo has accepted." He said. "I have asked that he be ready to leave this weekend on a cargo plane."

"That doesn't make any sense!" Raphael exclaimed. "Why? Separating us makes us a better family? In what dimension does that help us become closer?"

"Raph, stop." Leonardo said quietly. Raphael complied, but didn't sit down, still fuming.

The room went quiet again and then Ethan knew it was there turn. "Master Splinter," He said, not looking directly at the rat like Leo had but instead choosing to look down at his pizza. "We wanted to let you know how grateful we are to be included in your family." He looked at each of the turtles. Raphael wouldn't look back at him, but the others smiled softly towards him. "Honestly, you guys are some of our best friends – your family." Ethan reached out and gave Leonardo's shoulder a squeeze.

"Who knows where we would be without you guys." Kaela agreed. "Our whole life has been about finding you guys, finally be part of your lives has been awesome."

"Seriously." Jess added. "We wouldn't have stopped the Heart of Darkness, or Shredder without you guys."

Splinter was watching all three of them unblinkingly. Ethan looked up at him and stared into the deep pools of brown that seemed to know already what he was going to say. "Jess, Kaela and I," he said slowly and carefully, "are going to Japan in the next week."

More outbursts came from those at the table. April, Casey, the turtles. The only one who stayed totally silent was Splinter who continued to watch Ethan from over his whiskers. Eventually the turtles, April, and Casey went quiet again and looked to Splinter. The old rat nodded and then with a smile said, "This is wise."

Ethan nodded.

"Why, though dude?" Mikey asked.

Ethan didn't answer and looked down at his fur covered fingers. He felt Jess put her hand on his shoulder. He looked up at Mikey. "We need to know who we are."

"We woke up on the pavement outside Master Yuta's house." Kaela said. "We need to know why."

"Where we came from." Jess said under her breath.

The room went quiet after that.

Packing was hard.

But Ethan knew saying goodbye would be harder.

Early morning a few days later they left together to the airport and snuck in through the airducts. Ethan would have felt it incredibly difficult a year ago – now it was easy. Once they made it out onto the runway to the planes, it was time to say goodbye.

Under the blue sky with clouds moving like puffy pillows, Ethan, Jess, Kaela, and the four turtles hid under the shadow of the glass building. "I guess this is goodbye." Ethan said weakly, holding his naginata closer to him along with his backpack that he strapped closer to him.

"Just for a little while." Leonardo replied.

Raphael had been stony and silent.

"Catch ya later bra!" Mikey gave each of them a hug, followed by Leonardo.

"Here's my email." Donatello passed a card to Kaela. "Keep in contact! We'll let you know if Shredder pops up again."

With the sound of the airplanes preparing for lift off Ethan gave the turtles a last smile and as they turned to run for the planes, he turned back and said, "Booyakasha."

To Be Continued…


End file.
